The Last Sakura

The sakura season sure is short... I guess that's why Japanese people go crazy over it... either that, or they just want any excuse to go partying. Here are some pics of sakura trees in Omori, near where I live: (click on the pics to enlarge)
Anyway, by the time my next day off came along, the blossoms were already falling. I tried to go to a couple of places I hadn't been to before, so I planned on going to Yoyogi Park and to the Imperial Palace gardens. Unfortunately, Yoyogi Park, though good for joggers and picnickers, didn't quite have the beautiful scenery I was imagining. This photo is actually of a tree as you exit Yoyogi Park and heard toward Shibuya (a little further down is NHK Broadcasting). You can see a salaryman preparing the mats for the evening's hanami (cherry blossom viewing... or excuse to drink and party). Well, I headed for the Imperial Palace, but being the Ryoga (the eternal lost boy from Ranma 1/2) that I am, I went the wrong direction and ended up at Chidorigafuchi, which is famous for the thousands of sakura trees lining the moat outside the Imperial Palace. As you can see, though, the blossoms were falling, and the pink you see in the water are the fallen blossoms. And compare it to the place at night (I took these last year), when the blossoms were lit up. Near Chidorigafuchi is the controversial Yasukuni Shrine... controversial because Prime Minister Koizumi visits it each New Years though it includes graves of war criminals from WWII. Anyway, behind the shrine is a quiet little garden: Next year I'll go to some new places.