Since this is our 2nd spring in Japan, I had thought that Hanami would not be a priority.  I forgot I was traveling with a flower friend.  Jore wanted to smell, see and take photos of all the pretty flowers in Japan.  The pictures posted here are her photos of all the Cherry Blossoms from the Japan Mint in Osaka.  They are famous for the late blooming cherry blossoms and only open their gates to public for a week of Hanami.  This year, the schedule was from April 11 to 17.  We wouldn’t have found out if not for our friend Ditsu, who is currently based in Osaka.

So off to Osaka we went to see these blossoms.  Imagine one place with around 350 cherry blossom trees of around 130 varieties.  We were in Sakura Heaven!The flowers were so fluffy and beautiful.  They had a lot of different types of sakura and they come in different colors as well.

People were so excited to touch, smell and see the blossoms that the whole place was crowded.  They even had security as well as announcements in different languages to let people know not to touch the blooms.

The beauty of the flowers actually made the day brighter despite the clouds.

 

After enjoying our walk under the Sakura tunnel and street food, we headed to the famous Dotonbori.

It was so full of life with restaurants on each side.  We tried Ichiran Ramen and some takoyaki.  Walking around Osaka was more fascinating and fun than I expected.  Maybe having my friend bring us around Osaka made it so much nicer.

We would be definitely coming back soon, hopefully in time for momiji.