Many people think that they have to wait until well into the spring season to participate in a photo tour in Japan and enjoy cherry blossoms, but your Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) photography workshop guide can introduce you to the earliest cherry blossoms in Japan.
Kawazu City, Shizuoka’s Cherry Blossoms are commonly the earliest blooming sakura in Japan, and they don’t flutter away in the winds in one week’s time; they have been known to bloom for photo ops for nearly an entire month. Another feature that distinguishes Kawazu cherry blossoms from others is the richness of their pink petals. The luxurious pink petals are also larger than the cherry blossoms that bloom during the normal cherry blossom viewing, or hanami, in Japan. The blossoms are practically begging to be part of a Japan photo tour and your camera.
The city boasts over 8,000 sakura trees for visiting photographers to enjoy, and your JDS photo tour leader will take you to most beautiful and breathtaking stretch of the Kawazu River to enjoy the most photogenic of all the blossoms. The photographic texture does not end with sakura; Kawazu’s riverbanks are also home to the glittering yellow canola flowers, so you can capture the contrast of the lustrous pink and the bright yellow.
You can also enjoy the traditional food stalls that line the riverside, so you can savor the toothsome offerings of Shizuoka prefecture as well as some one of a kind mementos of your time enjoying the first blooming sakura.
Once you have experienced Shizuoka in the spring, JDS Photography Workshop Leaders suggest adding Shinjuku’s Gyoen Park to your itinerary. It is woefully undervalued. Too often visitors frequent Tokyo photo tour spots such as: Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo Tower, or Tokyo’s main station. All of these places yield excellent photographs, but they are strictly on the beaten path. Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) Photo Tour Leaders will introduce you to some photographic treasures nestled among the common destinations.
Gyoen Park’s origins date back to the Edo Period where it used to be a samurai residence, but it was later awarded to the Imperial Family that used it for entertaining guests and foreign visitors to Tokyo. Upon seeing the peaceful scenery and open fields that comprise the park’s area, you will understand why it was so often used for entertainment.
In spring, the different types of sakura, or cherry trees, blossom and subtly different times, so with your camera, you can capture cherry blossoms at many distinct stages in one photograph. When you visit dictates what sights you will be able to behold, and your JDS Photo Workshop Leader will take you to the best locations in the park to help you take a gallery worthy photo with every shot!