桜舞い散る

and finally, as promised, pictures of the pride and joy of japanese people. there are of course, many types of sakuras, but here in japan, the 染井吉野 (somei yoshino) is probably the most common. i call the someiyoshinos cotton candy sakuras.

i was taking close-up pictures of the blossoms in my school when sugawara sensei came over again and talked to me about the flowers. there was this young tree with flowers a slightly darker shade of pink and it was surrounded by a few sturdy someiyoshinos. it looked much frailer with its branches hanging down than its cotton candy counterparts.

sugawara sensei went on to tell me that that was the 枝垂れ桜 (shidare zakura), and how people usually prefer the someiyoshino, but not he, because...

and he was lost for words. the tiny tree was obviously overshadowed by its perkier cousins and not half as eye-catching. but i could understand why he felt so, even if he didn't know how to verbalize it. and i appreciate that there people in this world with a soft spot for the more delicate beauty in life.

but the following tuesday, i walked through the しだれ桜散歩道, 1 minute away from the school i visit some tuesdays in kitakata, and had my breath taken away. a tiny tree might not make that huge a statement, but put 1000 of them in a row and you get a whole new story. if the somei yoshino is beautiful in a poofy kind of way, then the shidarezakura is just quietly gorgeous.


and i say that because it was actually past the peak time for viewing the blossoms in kitakata. after a heavy downpour the sunday before and strong winds that continued to blow, i wasn't expecting such a turnout. though the petals had already started to fall and little green leaves were peeking out of the branches, the petal-strewn street simply added on to the charm. and there's nothing more romantic than being caught in a moment when sakura petals flutter around you.

and the last picture. did somebody just say dreamy? indeed. and it didn't even need the help of photoshop.