Scouting and exploring the Tohoku region for the upcoming JDS Hokkaido Cherry Blossom Photo Tour has led our photo workshop leaders into Akita.   Akita is home to Kubota Castle, a historic samurai castle that was was part of land bequest by Tokugawa Ieyasu to Satake Yoshinobu in 1602.  The castle was completed in 1604, and as the grounds were planned, over 1,000 cherry blossom trees were planted and still remain there to this day, so when you join a Hokkaido Tohoku Cherry Blossom Adventure Photo Workshop Tour, you are not only experiencing Japan’s ephemeral blossom, you are also experiencing authentic Japan and drinking in the rich history of locations like Kubota Castle and other samurai castles across Japan.  The castle grounds and nearby park have three major varieties of cherry blossoms, the Somei Yoshino (Prunus yedoensis), the Higan-zakura (Prunus itosakura), and the much rarer Gyoiko blossom (Prunus gyoiko), one of the double blossom variety with far more petals than the Somei Yoshino’s five.  The Gyoiko blossom is extraordinary because rather than a shade of pink, the blossoms are a cream color, and depending on what part of their blossom cycle you spot and photograph them in, you may even see a green tinge to their many-petaled blossom.  Many of the cultivated varieties are strong to the winter weather and because of their position on Japan’s main island, Honshu, they usually bloom later than their Kansai or Kanto counterparts because they have to be.  Niigata prefecture has been known for many years as ‘Yukiguni’ or Snow Country, and the temperatures drop precipitously from fall to winter.  Our cherry blossom photo workshop leaders will happily introduce you to Kubota castle and its grounds and many more in Akita as well as other regions in a cross-country cherry blossom chasing adventure.