Hanami stroll 1

We spent the weekend at U's parents' place and I fell in love. Not with U (done that already!), or with his father (despite the amazing award winning honey umeshu he plied us with on Saturday night), but with the neighbourhood.

U grew up in Saitama, a suburb prefecture of Tokyo, that derisively gets referred to as "da-sai-tama" (a combination of "dasai," unsophisticated/not fashionable, and the name of the prefecture). After this weekend I can no longer think of the prefecture, or at least one particular corner of it, as anything of the sort!

U's mother's family has long lived in the same spot near the Azuma River in Tokorozawa, a river that is lined with cherry blossoms (some planted when U was little, others plannted when his mother was little, and others much older). Pink and white lanterns are strung along the entire route and in the evening some spots are lit by spot lights. Every few hundred metres a small pedestrian bridge crosses the river but with the steep sides of the river there aren't many spots for sitting and hanami-ing. U and I both decided that the last was immaterial, as strolling along (stopping regularly for photos) made for much better enjoyment of the blossoms and was healthier besides!

We started with an evening stroll - bundled up against the chilly night...

Just as we were thinking it was time to turn around and head home we saw the nearly full moon shining down on the pink blossoms...