Before setting out on my cross country Japan Cherry Blossom photography workshop tour, I was in a frenzy due to the cherry blossoms blooming two weeks early in the spring of 2023, which spelled disaster for the majority of the run of the mill tour companies,  with fixed itineraries on the beaten path, as the timing was all off.  I even had a client from Australia send me a cherry blossom forecast map stating the early bloom, and in the email, the client said, “Oh, it looks like we’re going to miss them.”  I replied, “I don’t think so, not in the highlands. There’s still snow there.”  Abut a week later, for medical or other undisclosed reasons, that client canceled the cherry blossoms workshop of a lifetime.  But to be honest, I was extremely concerned about the early bloom and our route, and I was questioning myself due to the aforementioned client, Tokyoites, and news reports about the early bloom.  Seeking guidance, I spoke to my Zen master Buddhist mentor.  He was very straightforward and frustrated with me, “You were and are a Zen master practitioner, so why are you concerned?”  It felt like he had taken a bamboo stick and smacked me on my head reaching my brain which inspired a premonition of the perfect cherry blossoms.  I was only conferring with him, that was my main purpose in bringing up the topic, but when he spoke his words of wisdom, I realized that participants and I would be able to experience ancient cherry blossom trees in the highlands of Central Japan, that I had never experienced in bloom because during their peak blossoming time, I am normally in Hokkaido.  Heartened by his counsel, I approached my 2023 cherry blossom photo tour with renewed determination because I realized I could share the beginner’s mindset experience, with the group I was leading on my cross country cherry blossom photography workshop.  The “beginners mindset” in Zen Buddhism we call ‘Shoshin,' having an attitude of openness and lack of preconceptions when approaching any study, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.  As a matter of fact, on the first evening as we were having dinner, I explained during the an inaugural toast that during this workshop, as everyone most likely knew or had heard that the sakura have been blooming two weeks early, so on this tour we’re going to be chasing the light and experiencing cherry blossom trees that I had never seen in bloom.  I added that some of the ancient ones are going to be 300-700 years old.  One participant commented, “ Wow,That’s honest,” and I had contacted colleagues along the route I had chosen, and they confirmed that the cherry blossoms were at 100% and that I had chosen my annual cross country cherry blossom route well.

The following days were a symphony constructed of a visit to Matsumoto-jo which is an original samurai castle built in the 16th century, coupled with 1200 year old temples and power spots that are at the top of Japan’s ranking.  Throughout this route we followed the ancient pilgrim routes which placed us near the heart of Japan’s main island, Honshu, and to the roots of Zen Buddhism in Japan, going back nearly a millennium.  

Returning to the Pacific Ocean side of Japan and Mt. Fuji as predicted the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, as mentioned earlier.  But myself and participants had witnessed an endless supply of the Perfect Cherry Blossoms in full bloom, off the beaten path, and photographing the Trumpeter swans on our return, so up close and personal was a rare treat.  At the base of Mt. Fuji we visited the fuji five lakes, the sea of trees, and the Dragons cave, said to be the breath and dragons lair, which also, happens to be one of the most sacred Shinto shrines in the Mt. Fuji region, next to the Okumiya shrine at the summit of Mount Fuji.

Next we were off to the Hakone region of course off the beaten path, except we did visit (Amasake Tea House,) that has been serving customers for about 400 years, and it was packed with tourists, but it is worth a visit.  We also visited an ancient Zen Buddhist temple founded in the 13th century, which has hundreds of stone carvings, I call it the Zen temple of human expressions, as the stone carvings are of Buddhist monks displaying all forms of human expressions.