Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)





These are my favorite of the 300 Pictures we took last Tuesday. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! Every where I turned was another perfect shot for a picture. We had a great time, especially since we had our good friends with us.

The cherry blossoms begin blossoming in southern Japan in late March/April and ends up by us in late April early May. One of the most famous festivals is in Hirosaki, about 2 hours west from Misawa.

Here's a little wiki info for you:

The cherry blossom also known as Sakura (Japanese kanji : 桜 or 櫻; hiragana: さくら) in Japanese. In English, the word "sakura" is equivalent to the Japanese flowering cherry. In China the cherry blossom symbolizes feminine beauty, the feminine principle, or love in the language of herbs. In Japan cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect.

Which picture is your fav?*Thank you Wikipedia!

7 comments:

DianeM said...

If I was a good friend, I would say my favorite picture is the one of Max, right? Well, it's nice but I really love several of the others. I couldn't choose a favorite. In fact, I would probably hang a few of them on the walls of my OTHER bathroom if I was going for a Japanese theme. Please remember when you're a famous photographer that I was one of the first to buy and display your art (even if it is in my guest bathroom). Wait, did I ever pay you for those prints? Hmmm.

Unknown said...

mine was #4 - the brite red surrounded by a sea of pink.
but MAX is a cutie too.

Mom said...

Doug, What beautiful pictures!
My favorite is my grandson Maxwell. Second is your fourth picture down.
Amazing--great photography. Well done. Love, Fae
p.s. John coached me so I could comment.

Bartimaeus said...

Thanks guys. My favorite is # 5. The blossom branches with the blurry castle in the background.

Bartimaeus said...

No Di you never paid me but I told you not too. This way you are forever indebted to us!!!!!

mr. underhill said...

Those are some wicked nice pics. Nice work bro. I'm liking #5 but #4 is a close second. You should post those on the fam blog too.

Foot Handle Pete said...

I really like the second from the bottom. of course max looks great too. That really looks cool wish that I could be there to see it.