Great post, Vanessa! I really enjoy these cultural pieces that blend your experience in Japan and history and mythology that established the rituals that still exist in contemporary Japan. Keep it up!
Lovely read, Vanessa. I enjoyed learning about the significance of the plum blossom. I would very much enjoy seeing the season of the plum blossom. I got to witness the cherry blossoms in all their glory, but this is yet another reason to return.
"Never snowed in Tokyo." I wonder how long whoever told you that had lived in Japan. While it is warmer now in Tokyo than it was 40 years ago, I shoveled snow in suburban Tokyo at least every other year after we bought a house in the mid-1990s. Several years ago, we had enough snow to collapse a few carports in our neighborhood.
Wow, that's a lot of snow! I don't remember who told me, maybe I read it somewhere. It might also have been meant in the way in that it "never" really snows in big cities, meaning it doesn't really pile up & usually melts after a few days. The suburbs might have a different experience than Shinjuku, even with the same amount of snow? (I'm just theorizing now.)
Probably true, around the Yamanote line it’s usually a degree or two warmer than the suburb where I live. Also, usually more traffic so the streets generally don’t have much snow remaining compared to the streets around our house in Tokyo.
Great post, Vanessa! I really enjoy these cultural pieces that blend your experience in Japan and history and mythology that established the rituals that still exist in contemporary Japan. Keep it up!
Beautiful!!!!!!!!
Lovely read, Vanessa. I enjoyed learning about the significance of the plum blossom. I would very much enjoy seeing the season of the plum blossom. I got to witness the cherry blossoms in all their glory, but this is yet another reason to return.
You should! They look similar to cherry blossoms but something about how they bloom when it's still cold outside feels more magical to me...
"Never snowed in Tokyo." I wonder how long whoever told you that had lived in Japan. While it is warmer now in Tokyo than it was 40 years ago, I shoveled snow in suburban Tokyo at least every other year after we bought a house in the mid-1990s. Several years ago, we had enough snow to collapse a few carports in our neighborhood.
Wow, that's a lot of snow! I don't remember who told me, maybe I read it somewhere. It might also have been meant in the way in that it "never" really snows in big cities, meaning it doesn't really pile up & usually melts after a few days. The suburbs might have a different experience than Shinjuku, even with the same amount of snow? (I'm just theorizing now.)
Probably true, around the Yamanote line it’s usually a degree or two warmer than the suburb where I live. Also, usually more traffic so the streets generally don’t have much snow remaining compared to the streets around our house in Tokyo.