Cherry Blossom part II Posted by yuki on May 8, 2012 in Culture
As promised here comes the second part of the さくら祭り. In this post I will introduce you the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival 弘前さくら祭り (ひろさきさくらまつり) in Aomori 青森. 弘前 is a former castle town and is located in the southwestern part of 青森. The major landmark of the city is the Hirosaki Castle 弘前城 (ひろさきじょう) and its surrounding park is one of Japan’s most famous cherry blossom spots.
The 弘前さくら祭り is held from 23rd April to 5thMay each year 毎年 (まいとし). In the Hirosaki Park 弘前公園 (ひろさきこうえん) you can enjoy the beauty of about 2600 cherry trees in many sub-species including the しだれ桜 and the ソメイヨシノ.
My personal highlight of the event is the 夜桜 (よざくら). Maybe you can guess the meaning of the word. …..
The first 漢字 “夜“ means „night“ and the second 漢字 “桜“means “cherry blossom”. Therefore 夜桜 simply means to enjoy and to view the cherry blossoms at night. The whole park 公園 (こうえん) and the castle is lit up at night. The illuminated castle and the light pink colored tunnel of the さくらcreate a fantastic and stunning scene. The 夜桜 is especially popular 人気(にんき) among couples カップルwhich seems obvious, considering the romantic scenery. If you are interested for further information about this festival, take a look at the Tourist Information Site of Hirosaki: http://www.city.hirosaki.aomori.jp/index.html
If you are interested, you may watch the video here: Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival 2012
The video contains short-takes from the 弘前さくら祭り２０１２ and many of the scenes were filmed toward evening showing great impressions of the 夜桜.
So if you are ever around the Tohoku Area, do not miss your chance to stop by the event. （＾＿－）☆
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About the Author: yuki
Although I was born and raised in Austria my parents luckily taught me japanese starting at a very early age. Since most of my relatives live in Japan I try to fly to Japan once in a year. I love reading and cooking and I also enjoy traveling.
Comments:
Hichem:
Great impressions of the 夜桜 indeed!
（^__^）☆
Hichem
zoomingjapan:
I went to Hirosaki in the beginning of May this year.
The weather was absolutely horrible. Strong winds and heavy rain ruined the Golden Week vacation not only for me but millions of Japanese.
Despite the horrible weather there were crowds. Just to enter Hirosaki Castle you had to stand in line for about 30 minutes!