Feeding the Birds at Ueno Park

Winter in Ueno Park, again.

There is a nice spirit of community here. People share bird food to total strangers, and the man here is lifting up a child who just happened to be walking by with his mother.

A regular with a snazzy bike decorated with electrical tape.

His shoes and pants are decorated with tape too!

Koinobori at Shirohige Park

Shirohige Park in Tokyo. Photos taken early May.

More on koinobori (carp streamers) here.

The largest housing project I have ever seen, with 18 buildings.

Naming Plants at Koishikawa Botanical Gardens

Part of the fun of going to the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens is discovering new plants and learning their names. That the garden is owned by the University of Tokyo adds to the educational experience.

Magnolia flowers in bloom.

Cercis chinensis bunge, or Chinese rebud.

Cornus officinalis, or Japanese cornel, a species of dogwood.

This tree had a hollow with a sliver thin enough for a small person to get in through.

Rhododendrons, prepping for their bloom.

Corylopsis spicata, or winter hazel, in the witch hazel family.

Eventually a patch of small strawberries.

Does the Japanese maple leaf flower?

Lonicera gracilipes. This page makes me think this shrub is native to Japan and cannot be found elsewhere. The flowers are small and star-like.

Camellia trees, which always seem to flower like crazy.

Two ibises in view.

I was surprised to see the yellow-green color around its eyes.

Cherry Blossom Viewing at Koishikawa Botanical Gardens

Despite the sheer number of posts I've written about Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, I'd never been able to visit during cherry blossom season. Luckily, I managed it this year, and it was just as lovely as you'd expect.

During hanami (cherry blossom viewing) all of the major Tokyo parks become horrifically crowded, to the point where it can disrupt your appreciation of the flowers. This park is located at least 15 minutes from all nearby train stations, weeding out the lazy.

The sun shining through the haze of flowers.

Daffodils and cherry blossoms.

The pond was teeming with tadpoles.

Ume Blossom-Viewing at Koishikawa Botanical Gardens

A late-winter visit to the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, just in time for the ume (plum blossom) festival.

 

Also an early-blossoming sakura tree.

Japanese witch hazel, beginning to flower.

Some of the trees in this park are fantastically tall.

The ground was littered with fallen fruit.

These are all ume blossoms.

The poor leaves were already riddled with aphids, plus the bigger bug handing upside down.

There were several types of camellia trees.

The park was undergoing construction, with a lot of trees and plants being culled.