To celebrate the arrival of spring, which technically started yesterday (March 20th), National Geographic has created a gallery of cherry blossom photos. All of the photos were submitted through Your Shot, National Geographic’s photography community. I’ve always loved seeing cherry blossoms in photos, the stunning pink color of the blooming flowers make for stunning shots. Soon, I’d like to take my kids to the LA Arboretum so that they can experience these in person. Check out a recent maternity photo shoot there by Love & Lemonade photography.
Here’s a quick few facts about cherry blossoms (or sakura in Japanese): They’re the unofficial national flower of Japan. Cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse. They’re a metaphor for the ephemeral beauty of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhist influence.
The Travel Channel put together a list of the best places to see cherry blossoms in the US. On the west coast, there’s a cherry blossom festival in San Francisco. This year it’s being held from April 9-10 and April 16-17. This annual festival — the second largest festival outside of Washington, DC – attracts an annual crowd of more than 200,000 people. Have you been? Sounds like a fun festival to celebrate something so beautiful.
Above: Old Couple An old couple was enjoying the most beautiful moment of a year. Photography and caption by Joe Ishikawa/ National Geographic Your Shot
Sakura River Inokashira park where some Japanese celebrate their hanami party under the tree of cherry blossom. Photograph and caption by Danilo Dungo/ National Geographic Your Shot
Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival. Photography and caption by Ryan WH/ National Geographic Your Shot
Chidorigafuchi Chidorigafuchi is one of the popular spots for cherry blossoms (sakura) viewing. It is just a couple of stations away from our office. Seven springs had already passed since joining our company but I never had the chance to do a hanami there. That changes last Saturday…Photography and caption by Totomai Martinez/ National Geographic Your Shot
Land of Mist Mt. Yoshino is well known from old times for the best cherry blossom site in Japan. It covers all over the mountain paths around 8 kms, from the north end to the south of Omine Renzan mountains. It is also a base of Omine spiritual mountain walk for decipliants. A path between Yoshino-Omine and Yuya is called Omine Okukudou and is still used for religeous training. The spiritual site and path in Kii, including Mt. Yoshino, was approved as one of UNESCO World Heritage. Photography and caption by Yoshiki Fujiwara/ National Geographic Your Shot
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