Sakura Viewing at Rikugien – Bunkyo Ward

According to some sources, April 6th was the peak of the cherry blossom season here in central Tokyo and there were a lot of people out having a look at the flowers even at night, after work. Rikugien (六義園), a very beautiful traditional garden in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward, had a special even which drew a few thousand people, including me, to watch the lit up cherry blossom after dark. It was very dark last night again, very few clouds and even though the day was warm and lovely the evening turned bitterly cold, almost like the winter returned. Rikugien is a wonderful example of an Edo period park, founded over 300 years ago it only opened to the public in 1938. It was my first visit there but I really have to go see it again during the daytime. Not only was the sakura in full bloom but also the bamboo. It was very difficult to get any decent photographs due to the extreme contrast between the white flowers and the black skies, so please excuse the poor quality of these photos! Totally unrelated, but blog worthy, was the cute little house I passed on the way to the park! It looks totally out of place on a back street in central Tokyo!