Tokyo Respite

One of the great joys of spending a year traveling is that you get to experience a country's seasons.  In Japan, I’ve found people love to celebrate the changing seasons through its flowers and trees.  In March there was the eager count-down to the cherry blossom season.  In April people across the country celebrated in festivals beneath thousands of cherry trees.  The fall will bring a similar delight in the bright colors of the maples.

Now the iris and hydrangea are blooming.  I have joined the Japanese in strolling through  gardens, looking at the flowers, sitting to enjoy the scene or picnic on the lawn.  

 

These photos are from a number of gardens in Tokyo, including the Imperial Palace East Garden, which has 84 different varieties of iris.  As with any occasion, the Japanese (like me) took pictures, with cameras ranging from smart phones to SLRs with 18” lenses.  

 

 

These hydrangea photos are  from a shrine and park called Hachimangu in the town of Mito about an hour outside of Tokyo. 

I don't think I've seen so many  hydrangea with so many varieties in one place.  The plants were mostly under a stand of tall trees.  It was all quite lovely, serene, and cool.

Mito has a lovely lake with a path around it for joggers and strollers,  a fountain in the middle, swan boats and real swans.  A lot of people were out, including this mother and son, whom I saw at the train station as we waited to return home.  (Another thing Japanese love is hats!)

Yesterday I went to the Edo- Tokyo Open-Air Museum, a collection of houses and shops from the early 1900's.  There the iris were gone, but dahlias were in bloom.  As I walked home from the train, there was a beautiful sunset.  I wasn't the only one taking pictures!