Sakura day ride 2024

We had one day of cherry blossoms in Nagoya this year, and I took snaps of some of ’em.

Like so many good things in life, the beauty of cherry blossoms is amplified by their transience; and this year in Nagoya the season blessed us with an exceptionally abrupt floral experience. Blooms reached their peak on a Saturday, and on the Sunday they were battered by torrential rainfall, and that was that. Purely by coincidence (and it’s taken me a few minutes to recall the circumstances here) on that Saturday I had set my mind on restocking a tiny fish pond in the back garden with medaka,1 an errand wrapped in its own layers of transient beauty.

Before she was diagnosed with ALS, Mieko maintained a large garden plot a few minutes’ walk from the house. She grew most of the vegetables that reached our table, and maintained contact with family and close friends in Tokyo with shipments of her produce. The site was a larger vacant patch held by a local landowner and ex-politician, who makes lots available free of charge to local gardeners, his benefit being a tax break granted for keeping the land in agricultural use. It’s a common pattern in suburban neighborhoods.

When Mieko fell ill, I became her caregiver, and the remote garden was neglected. Weeds grew as weeds will do, I received an angry phone call from the landowner, spent a little over a week clearing everything from the lot, and then severed all contact with the heartless old bastard after a nasty shouting match. Among the things brought back to the house were a clutch of medaka that Mieko kept in the water-collection tubs for moquito abatement. I set them up in a small tub where they resided until Mieko passed away, and sometime in the first year of mourning the tub became a mini-pond in the back garden. The antics of the fishies were a little bright spot in that time, but eventually their lives too came to an end. And on that Saturday (to return from this long digression) I set out to restock the pond.

My first target was the aquarium section of the local hardware store where the first fishies had come from. They were out of stock. My next target was an aquarium supply store that I had noticed on the route to university. That was the northeast destination of the route path shown below; but they were (1) closed on the weekend, and (2) a B2B aquarium maintenance shop, and not in the business of selling guppies to melancholy retirees anyway. The final target was the aquarium annex of Miki Flower Center, a large garden supply store in the opposite direction from the house. And there I was able to complete the errand.

I hadn’t bicycled around the area in cherry blossom season before, and the number of trees in bloom was striking. The photographs here are not great, but I hope they give some idea of the spectacle in this brief annual period of blossom.

A route from Nisshin to Nagoya University and Miki Flower Center and return
A route from Nisshin to Nagoya University and Miki Flower Center and return

Return from B2B Aquarium Shop to Nisshin

This first snap was taken looking south after hitting the first aquarium supply store, at an intersection one block before turning off Route 153, the main drag between Toyota City and Nagoya that you would use if driving between Nisshin and the university by car.

A street scene with a queue of cars on the left, the fenced-in bicycle parking area of a supermarket on the right, and cherry trees in bloom on both sides of the street.
A street scene with a queue of cars on the left, the fenced-in bicycle parking area of a supermarket on the right, and cherry trees in bloom on both sides of the street.

At the spot where the photo below was taken, I’ve segued off Route 153 to avoid a weird section navigable only by climbing a long set of stairs to top an elevated highway crossing. There is a sports ground with baseball diamonds to the south fronting on the side street where I’m standing. It was a Saturday and there were two games in progress.

A view from above of a clay-surfaced sports ground with cherry trees in bloom on a hill behind.
A view from above of a clay-surfaced sports ground with cherry trees in bloom on a hill behind.
A view from above of a clay-surfaced sports ground.
A view from above of a clay-surfaced sports ground.

I took this snap as a reminder that Nagoya is very much a car city with parking lots to match, but that even here the cherry trees bloom far and wee.2

A large parking lot viewed from between two cars, with a few cherry trees in bloom visible at a great distance beyond the lot.
A large parking lot viewed from between two cars, with a few cherry trees in bloom visible at a great distance beyond the lot.

The side road that I divert to from Route 153 makes a sharp right turn where it encounters the intersecting highway. The sound-dampening enclosure of that highway is the backdrop to this cherry tree in bloom in a private garden in the photo below.

A cherry tree in bloom stands with several fruit trees in a small home garden. Beyond the garden there is a glass and aluminum noise-control wall enclosing a highway running beside the property..
A cherry tree in bloom stands with several fruit trees in a small home garden. Beyond the garden there is a glass and aluminum noise-control wall enclosing a highway running beside the property..

The sharp right at the walled-in highway leads to a steep descent to the Tenpaku River that flows under the highway. At the foot of the hill, there is a small playground park that I normally rode past without noticing. On this day, it was in fairyland attire.

An island of trees bracketed by asphalted intersections has half a dozen cherry trees in bloom around a larger tree that bushes out to a greater height. A berm on a block closer to the camera intrudes on the scene from the right, and the streets are adorned with concrete telephone poles and power lines.
An island of trees bracketed by asphalted intersections has half a dozen cherry trees in bloom around a larger tree that bushes out to a greater height. A berm on a block closer to the camera intrudes on the scene from the right, and the streets are adorned with concrete telephone poles and power lines.
A clay-surfaced playground is edged with cherry blossom trees in bloom.
A clay-surfaced playground is edged with cherry blossom trees in bloom.

The descent ends at the river, where I’ll take a right turn into a path atop the embankment. The enclosed highway is again visible in the photo below.

A stand of cherry trees in bloom line a paved pathway running left to right. A walker strides under the canopy of the trees. To the right, the metallic enclosure of an elevated road is visible in the corner of the frame.
A stand of cherry trees in bloom line a paved pathway running left to right. A walker strides under the canopy of the trees. To the right, the metallic enclosure of an elevated road is visible in the corner of the frame.

There’s no crossing at the base of the hill, so we turn right again and follow the Tenpaku River downstream to reach a footbridge. The path along the embankment is lined with cherry trees in bloom.

A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom. A footbridge leads across the river to the left.
A paved pathway lined with cherry trees in bloom. A footbridge leads across the river to the left.

These are the views looking west, then east from the middle of the bridge over the Tenpaku.

A view from a bridge, looking west along the Tenpaku River. The blue line of a pipeline bridge is visible in the distance, and a row of cherry trees in bloom line the riverbank to the right.
A view from a bridge, looking west along the Tenpaku River. The blue line of a pipeline bridge is visible in the distance, and a row of cherry trees in bloom line the riverbank to the right.
A view from a bridge, looking east along the Tenpaku River. A thoroughfare enclosed in a sound-dampening shroud spans the river in the distance.
A view from a bridge, looking east along the Tenpaku River. A thoroughfare enclosed in a sound-dampening shroud spans the river in the distance.

Once under the enclosed throughfare, the road on the south side of the Tenpaku River runs all the way to Hirabari Station.

A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.
A riverside path for pedestrians and bicycles, bordered by cherry trees in bloom.

The photos below are looking north across the Tenpaku River, immediately before it crosses the artery that links Hirabari with Nagoya’s Meito Ward and the Nagoya Interchange of the Tōmei Expressway to the north. This area just before the crossing marks the boundary between Nagoya’s Tenpaku Ward and the western edge of Nisshin City, which accounts for the sudden shift to a pastoral landscape. Under the row of trees you can make out a few cars: that’s a rural hanami gathering. We can hope there was a designated driver for each of the vehicles.

A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.
A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.
A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.
A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.
A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.
A row of blossoming cherry trees across the grassy banks for a river in the foreground, with high-tension power lines visible on the horizon behind.

Beyond the crossing of the north/south Hirabari artery, the cycleway changes to a dirt track. We’d had some rain, so on this day it was a mud track.

A muddy dirt track lined with blossoming cherry trees on the right.
A muddy dirt track lined with blossoming cherry trees on the right.

This tree at the end of the dirt track along the Tenpaku, where the route merges to the right away from the river to follow Route 153 again, earned a few more photos as it seemed the most striking of the day (possibly just because we are now in open sky country).

Blossoms on cherry tree branches, with a light utility van and a portion of a concrete building peeking through in the background.
Blossoms on cherry tree branches, with a light utility van and a portion of a concrete building peeking through in the background.
Blossoms on cherry tree branches, shot against a blue sky.
Blossoms on cherry tree branches, shot against a blue sky.
A large cherry tree in full bloom, and two white vans parked across a dirt track to the right.
A large cherry tree in full bloom, and two white vans parked across a dirt track to the right.

The shot below is looking south from a busy intersection that always requires a full stop: it’s a narrow road, but people always seem to drive at higher speeds in this quasi-rural no-man’s-land between Nagoya and the built-up area of Nisshin. The lone cherry tree in the distance is on private land.

A two-lane asphalt road and telephone lines run straight away from the camera toward a wooded thicket on the horizon. In the distance there is a lone cherry tree in bloom next to a dwelling.
A two-lane asphalt road and telephone lines run straight away from the camera toward a wooded thicket on the horizon. In the distance there is a lone cherry tree in bloom next to a dwelling.

A park that lies parallel to Route 153 offers a little further reprieve from the noise and pollution of its immediate side-roads.

A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.
A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.
A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.
A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.

The photo below, looking north from the Route 153 side road as it approaches the Prime Tree shopping center and Akaike Station, again captures the mix of natural beauty and industrial chaos that so frequently features in the Japanese landscape.

A fenced-in area beside a stroad, littered with metal traffic barriers, scaffolding pipes, and bits of concrete. A cherry tree in bloom is visible across the road in front of a two-story office building.
A fenced-in area beside a stroad, littered with metal traffic barriers, scaffolding pipes, and bits of concrete. A cherry tree in bloom is visible across the road in front of a two-story office building.

Nisshin to Garden Center Aquarium Shop and Return

The Nagoya Country Club (formerly the Wagō Country Club) is on the south side of Route 153. The house is pretty much directly opposite, on the north side of the 153 but up the hill a few blocks. The photo below was taken facing east on the 153 side road, halfway past the country club. The sign to the right is for something called “Natural Materials Lifestyle Gallery: Wagō Club” (自然素材生活館：和合倶楽部), which occupies a tiny sliver of land that’s not part of the golf course. I have no idea what the “gallery” does as a business, it’s always eerily quiet and I’ve never set foot in there; but they do maintain a cherry tree, so that’s not nothing.

A narrow paved path alongside a stroad lying to the left. A portion of signage is visible on a fence or wall to the right, reading (in English translation) “Coffee and Tea ; Rental Space”.
A narrow paved path alongside a stroad lying to the left. A portion of signage is visible on a fence or wall to the right, reading (in English translation) “Coffee and Tea ; Rental Space”.

I ultimately reached the Miki Flower Center aquarium shop and acquired ten medaka to stock the pond. A few steps from the back entrance to the nursery section of their sprawling complex there is a little playground, and across the street a house has their own cherry tree.

A bicycle stands in front of a cherry tree in bloom, and the tree stands in front of a small clay-surfaced playground.
A bicycle stands in front of a cherry tree in bloom, and the tree stands in front of a small clay-surfaced playground.
A cherry tree in bloom stands in the corner of a private garden at a residential intersection.
A cherry tree in bloom stands in the corner of a private garden at a residential intersection.

On the return journey, I paused at one of the small parks on the way home to take another snap.

A cherry tree in bloom stands in a fenced-in park or playground set at a suburban streetcorner
A cherry tree in bloom stands in a fenced-in park or playground set at a suburban streetcorner

Nearly home now. The playground below is walking distance from the house, and near the house of neighbors that sometimes entrust me with cat-sitting when they travel.

Cherry trees in bloom dot the edges of a small fenced-in playground.
Cherry trees in bloom dot the edges of a small fenced-in playground.

Finally, here is a view from a corner only about 100 meters from the house, looking northward up the road that leads to the local supermarket. The cherry trees are on the grounds of a large kindergarten behind the retaining wall. The nearest square building is a private home, but the smaller squary structure up the hill is a parking garage for the kindergarten’s kiddy bus.

A view up a street with two square flat-roofed structures on the left side of the street followed by a group of cherry trees in bloom.
A view up a street with two square flat-roofed structures on the left side of the street followed by a group of cherry trees in bloom.

So there you have it, loads of little snaps of cherry trees around town. In pulling this page together, I’ve realized just how much this transformation depends on public plantings of cherry trees, along embankment pathways and roadways, in community parks and playgrounds. Their sudden ubiquity gives the city a lease on elegance for the brief period that they’re in season.

  1. Medaka are a kind of Japanese guppy. ↩︎

  2. e.e. cummings, "[in Just-]" (1920). ↩︎