The image in this newsletter is actually a painting of an ancient cherry blossom tree, in the Japanese high lands, I took the image of the painting a few years back at a Japanese Ryokan, while scouting for my annual cherry blossom photo workshop.  In the coming days I will start that photo workshop, and 2023 is the earliest or second earliest bloom every recorded. To be perfectly honest, I have been really stressed out the past few days because the cherry blossoms have bloomed two weeks early and in some cases even earlier.  But then I consulted with a friend and mentor, who is a Zen Philosopher and buddhist, and I explained to him my situation.  And after a minute of silence, he looked at me and smiled, then answered, asking a few questions of his own, “What about your beginner’s mindset? Why are you stressed out about mother nature being early?!”  He could tell I was still caught in a trance from the general “Tokyoites!” (Tokyoites live in Tokyo and believe what happens in Tokyo evolves all across Japan!)

Then he said, “Just think about all the rare and ancient cherry blossom trees you never get to see bloom, but you will this year!”

And I said, “Yes, you’re right.  Normally, I never get to see many famous ancient trees bloom in the highlands of central Japan, due to me being in Northern Japan, leading cherry blossom northern tours from around the third week of April to Mid May.”  In the coming days I will meet up with participants, and we will be chasing the light as photographer do.  This year the only difference is, I will be photographing first time scenes/trees with participants, and my scheduled route is out the window due to the early bloom, but that is okay because I know the highlands routes well.  I have a back up for my back ups, and for this reason my annual cherry blossom and autumn photo workshop are cross country adventures.  We will start the workshop in the lowlands on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan, and cross the Japan Alps to the Sea of Japan.  And with a few simple tweaks in my itinerary by my support group team and myself, we will mostly remain in the highlands.  I am now chilled and so excited, as there are several ancient cherry blossom trees, peach trees, apple trees, plum trees, and a few others I have yet to see bloom, due to them being late bloomers in the highlands, and untouched by humans and pesticides.  In Kanto Japan, especially in urban centers such as Tokyo, they over spray the trees and they have a short lifespan.  Plus, the sparrow population and other bird population has dropped by over 70% in these regions due to harmful pesticides and overdevelopment.  But in the rural areas, the trees grow naturally, and the wildlife remains strong and abundant.  Most of my upcoming cherry blossom photo workshop will be held in Niigata, Nagano, and Yamanashi.  2023’s Cherry blossom photography tour is going to be another once in a lifetime experience for everyone as well as an opportunity to renew my dedication to the Zen teachings of my mentors.