Nagoya-Jo and more Sakura

Although we didn't have too many opportunities to go out and take pictures of the sakura during good weather, I lucked out and got a sunny Wednesday off. This first one was taken on a rainy monday, but regardless of the light the contrast of the sakura against the tori (shinto gates) is quite striking. 

The morning I spent biking down to the yamazaki river, a small rive to the south of our part of Nagoya. The morning was rainy, but after I got the the river the sun came out and I had the chance for some really great pictures. There were plenty of couples walking about, and chilren playing. Everyone's enjoying the last few days of the sakura season. 

I met a few students and their teacher from a local highschool photography club. They managed to communicate that they wanted to take some pictures of me, and I ended spending a good five minutes modeling for them.

It took me a while to capture a photo of the falling sakura petals. But I was rewarded with a few good shots. It was a little windy, and with large gusts the sakura would tumble from the trees like snow, or blow up from the ground and swirl about magically.

Wherever you go where there is alot of sakura, there are also alot of couples strolling along, enjoying the spring together. This part of the river had banks that were covered in sakura, like light snow, but even prettier in the warm april sun.

Even the ducks are out enjoying the weather, splashing around the river like kids.

I was first greeted at the gates of Nagoya castle by the construction workers, working on the restoration of some part of the castle grounds. But even the most mundane sights are pleasing  with sakura in the background. Not to mention the Japanese Construction workers, who like every other public institution in Japan, look incredibly clean.

The inside of the castle isn't as pretty as the exterior, much of it has been renovated, but as a gallery space it is rather quaint. This room held a collection of Japanese traditional landscapes.

The view from Nagoya castle is pretty good, and by this point in the day the weather was perfect. Since Japanese castles are made primarily out of wood, they could be built quite high. I don't know where they get the timbre for all the meter wide pillars in the centre though. And they rebuild these things every couple of decades!

I kept passing this group of ladies in kimono, here for what looked like a wedding ( I saw the groom and bride walking out earlier in their distinctive black and red kimono) I finally managed to snap one good shot of them without being too conspicuous.