The coming of Spring in Japan is of course synonymous with the Cherry (Sakura) blossoms. It has actually been more than a decade since I last visited Tokyo during this time, and the beautiful sights of the cherry blossoms was something I was definitely looking forward to seeing.

In anticipation of this I had chosen a hotel just right next to Meguro river ( Ohashi-Kaikan, located close to Naka-meguro station ), famous for the lovely sights of the cherry blossoms that line both sides of the river. Also, I had lived in Meguro during my first year in Tokyo during my days as a film student and have always loved the neighborhood.

Alas, the weather wasn’t fantastic on most of the days when I went out to take pictures, with overcast skies and drizzly rain; my mediocre photography skills certainly didn’t help with the situation.

Also, I had grossly underestimated the amount of tourists that would show up to enjoy the sights, though of course, I myself am part of the problem…

??5??????? 5 Centimeters per Second pic.twitter.com/HFLmDwSUTj

— blauereiter (@blauereiter) April 4, 2024

(above & below) These pictures were taken at Shinjuku Gyoen, and I was trying to reproduce a shot of the NTT Docomo building framed by sakura trees that I had taken many years ago. But again, the skies were just too flat and boring that day as well to get good results.

Thankfully, not all of my Cherry blossom photo-shoots ended in disappointment and mediocre results; the weather did take a turn for the better in my 2nd week in the city and I’ll have more to show in another post coming up. Stick around !