Yoshino – the alternative viewpoint

Mt. Yoshino is in central Nara, and is generally considered Japan’s top sakura-viewing site. it’s also a UNESCO world heritage site (as is almost everything in japan), and people flock there during cherry blossom season.

i went there last year for hanami, but unfortunately left wondering why everyone makes such a big deal of the place.

someone on facebook uploaded pictures of yoshino this year, and there were many people liking the album and commenting on how beautiful her pictures were. curious, i went to take a look, to see if she saw a different, more picturesque part of Yoshino and thinking that perhaps i was wrong after all.

turned out that the Yoshino she saw seemed pretty much like the Yoshino that i recall – totally unimpressive.

these were taken last year - what’s so pretty about such a view?

okay, so there are mountains, there are ridges, there are trees. but just because there’s nature and nature is precious and to be admired doesnt mean that we have to be undiscerning about it.

yoshino, even with its cherry blossoms, can’t be considered a picturesque or awe-inspiring mountain range. if you want to see nice mountain views, take the highway bus from Osaka/Kyoto to Takayama – now those mountains are gorgeous.

but i digress. that everyone speaks of yoshino as the mecca of sakura-viewing completely baffles me, because, as mentioned above, the mountain and its sakura arent exactly that pretty anyway. i’d expected whole stretches of sakura, but as you can see, the sakura trees are patchy at best – many other hanami spots offer you a wide swathe of sakura that stun you with their beauty. don’t forget that the sakura on Yoshino were also planted deliberately – in 4 groves at different altitudes – so one would think that they could have done a smarter job of planting trees that bloom at the same time at the same altitude, so one doesnt get some trees at full bloom and others with their leaves half out like that above.

moreover, the variant of sakura on yoshino arent that special either. those that i saw were the regular, ‘single layered’ ones. the photos uploaded on facebook by the ‘someone’ were the multi-layered variant:

those are really gorgeous, but Yoshino isnt the only place you can see them. the Japan Mint in Osaka (造幣局）has many trees of that variant of sakura too; the picture above is in fact of sakura from the Mint which i borrowed from someone here. the Mint might be open for only about a week or so in mid-April, but it’s right there in the heart of Osaka, as compared to Yoshino, which is really far unless you’re in Nara itself.

it took at least 2 hours to get there – and the trains that run there are infrequent and PACKED. plus the 2 hours i took was just to the foot of the mountain; you have to take a bus (after queuing for a looooong time to board) to bring you halfway up the mountain, and if you want to go further up you’ll have to walk or take the cable car (looooong queues too).

it was such a mission to get there that the trip left the group of us completely drained at the end of the day. we spent more time getting there and back than appreciating the flowers, which i feel defeated the purpose. none of us felt that it was worth it, nor did we think that Yoshino in any way deserves its reputation.

i dont know why so many people think highly of Yoshino, but there are some of us out there who certainly beg to differ!!

Asuka, Nara prefecture

Nara was the ancient capital of japan a long long time ago, and is known for its rich history. the Asuka region south of Nara City (about 45min from Osaka’s Kintetsu Abenobashi station in Tennoji) is famous for burial tombs, castle and tomb ruins and odd-shaped stones.

that place is really pretty – it’s away from the city and is a small rural village that has lots of tourists visiting. just look at the slopes of the land and the golden fields:

this is one of the burial mounds that i wanted to go into, but it was closed off:

i love the look of hay

it was lovely to be there, breathing in fresh air. we rented bicycles to get around too, which was good!

here’s one of the oddly shaped stones, called Kameishi or tortoise stone:

this is another one, which is the devil’s cutting board:

i think the most famous one burial tomb is Ishibutai, or stone stage.

the stones above it are really big

this explains how they pulled the stones over the tomb

 

descending beneath the rocks – there wasnt anything beneath the huge rocks besides a chamber, but it allowed us to see just how large the rocks are:

we had to return our rental bicycles, hence had to head home fairly early

Nara To-Kae light festival

it was my first festival in japan last year, and my first trip to nara too.

things seemed different this year compared to last year though.. i think the displays werent as nice, plus my enthusiasm last year for life in japan probably helped me deal with the horrible heat and humidity? unfortunately to say, it was just awfully hot and humid yesterday.

it was still nice though. here are some pictures:

someone was walking when i took that pic above.. :P

not sure what pattern the candles below are meant to make out:

what happens at this festival, is that most of the lights in nara are turned off (at least i think that’s what happens. there isnt much in nara anyway, and it might just be usualy that dark!) and the main sights are lit up by many many candles. there were far more than i took pictures of, mainly cos most of them wouldnt have turned out nice anyway cos it’s too dark.

walking around was a wee bit dangerous too.. heh.

 

 

i’m not sure what this one below is meant to be, and apparently neither did the rest of the pple who were there. haha. perhaps it’s a ring?

we went up to Todai-ji too, and i liked how the guardian statues look: