Tag Archives: plum blossoms

February 14

Plum Blossoms Lit Up At Night

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The Yushima Shrine is famous for its plum blossoms, and until the end of February, you can see them lit up at night! Even if you’re a cherry blossom loyalist (in which case I sentence you to visiting all my favorite plum tree gardens and upgrading your flower preferences JUST SAYIN’) it’s a grand opportunity to […]

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March 09

Lost In A Forest Of Blooming Plum Trees

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Yesterday I got to stumble around doing a 360˚ gawk in a forest of plum trees wearing all their favorite clothes at once. Kairakuen Garden in Mito was planted by a genius of a daimyo who totally got that too much of a good thing is never enough. 2,490 fluffy-branched trees later, I think I can safely say that this is the plum blossom extravaganza to end all […]

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March 03

Girls’ Day Dolls…On Steroids

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There’s a little town about two hours from Tokyo called Katsuura, where one a year, dolls rule. 12,000 of them, to be exact. So, how did Katsuura get so many dolls? The truth is, pretty much every Japanese girlbaby is given a set on her first New Year’s, but if you run out of girls to hand them down to, they’re really hard to […]

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February 08

Plum Blossom Countdown

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All of February (and a little of March) is the best time to see fluffy pink and white and red beauties bursting like popcorn all over Tokyo. Here are the best places to see them, in order of when they bloom: Note: These photos were all taken from 2014-2016, so depending on how warm or cold […]

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February 11

Where To See The Best Plum Blossoms In Tokyo

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I am a total, total sucker for plum blossoms. The flowers are much more beautiful than cherry blossoms up close, and you gotta admire that the damn things even bloom in the snow. I mean, they famously bloom in the snow (thousands of haiku can’t be wrong.) Here are my favorite places in Tokyo to see them, […]

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February 28

Once Again, Plum Blossoms Do Not Disappoint

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It’s not that I don’t like cherry blossom season, I just like plum season better. (Okay, azalea season too. But that’s not ’til the end of April.) In case I haven’t convinced you yet, here are a few more… For more plum goodness, last year’s plum blossom-o-rama is here! If you’d like to see some gorgeous plum […]

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February 23

Better Than Cherry Blossom Season

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At first glance, I thought I’d climbed that big hill to Okurayama Park for nothing. Hey, what’s with the bare branches? Where’s the fluffy pink and white goodness? It’s supposed to be plum blossom season! But then I got closer, and there were some trees starting to bloom. In fact, once I really looked, they were […]

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