The cherry trees (sakura) in Tokyo blossomed last week helping those of us here to continue with the diversity of our lives. This weekend, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the arrival of spring under the flowers of sakura trees. If you are here, these are the best places to enjoy the event in Tokyo.
“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees. – Pablo Neruda
“Icho Namiki” (銀杏並木) avenue is the main way to enter the Meiji Jingu Gaien gardens (not to be confused with the Meiji Jingu temple). “Icho” means Ginkgo and “Namiki” means “tree line”.
The yellow of the ginkgo leaves is fascinating during this time. It is one of the most visited places at the end of October and beginning of November. Don’t miss the chance to visit it if you are around during that time in Tokyo. The start of the avenue can be seen just outside “Aoyama 1-chome” station (Ginza or Hanzomon line).
The other day, my friend Xavier Verdaguer, came to visit Japan, and asked me: Why does it smell so bad when you are near the ginkgos? It turns out that the ginkgo fruits, called ginnan, fall on the street, are smashed by pedestrians and smell quite bad. The funny thing is that when they are grilled they smell very good and are delicious.
One of the many things I love about Tokyo is the amount of green areas that you can find within a concrete jungle. Although Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world, there’s trees everywhere. The thing is that not only you can find plants and trees in parks but you can find them in almost any corner of the city. There are some areas where you can walk and forget for a moment that you are inside a city while thinking that you are in a small village in the mountains.
I put here a series of pictures taken in downtown Tokyo that show how green can appear in any “free” corner in the city.
