Cherry blossom season.

This week, I started my life in Japan. I'm currently staying in Yokohama, Kanagawa, and it is beautiful here. Cherry blossom season is apparently early this year, but this means that there were full blooms welcoming me upon my arrival. It is my first time being in Japan during the month of March, and I am so glad to finally be able to witness the arrival of spring here! It's very different from any of the other places I've spent spring in; there is a certain atmosphere to it, like you can feel the essence of spring in the trees, the people, the rhythm of life.

I experienced my first hanami (cherry blossom viewing) yesterday at Inokashira Koen in Kichijoji, Tokyo. There were so many people! It was a time where eating, drinking, and the cherry blossoms overhead were the only things that mattered and nothing else. I had so much fun.

Outside my door, Motomachi Koen is also abundant with cherry blossoms in full bloom. I just can't stop myself from going outside once every few hours and standing there, admiring them.

Cherry blossoms are beautiful and short-lived. The experience of standing under them is inexplicable and irreplicable; nonetheless, I captured a few pictures of them both during the daytime and at night. I can't decide which I like better: cherry blossoms under a bright, blue sky, or yozakura, cherry blossoms at night.