fall to the ground

There's a national obsession with cherry blossoms

What's all the excitement about

To find out

We left tokyo and headed to KAWAGUCHI-KO.

It's located a couple of hours away by train or bus

and its right at the base of Mount FUJI

Getting out of TOKYO and riding to the countryside is really relaxing

As[Mt.]FUJI-SAN gets bigger and bigger

So does the excitement

No matter how many times I see Mount [Mt.]FUJI I get excited

We're allmost there

KAWAGUCHI-KO

The air is fresh and the sounds of honking cars and construction

are a couple of hours away in Tokyo

It replaced by singing birds, boats on water

and the wind through the trees

The [Tree]SAKURA here are magnificent

The white blossoms are striking contrast to the mountains and lake

Cherry blossoms with the view of Mount FUJI

both the icons of Japan and putting them together is truly something special

Mount FUJI is usually covered in clouds

Japan is an island and the weather can change rapidly

especially at elevations but in the early spring

the air is cool enough to keep the skies clear

There's a path around the lake and this trip is all SAKURA

It's relaxing here and even on the weekends it's easy to enjoy both the view

and the surrounding nature

Looking at [Mt.]FUJI-SAN covered in snow I'm reminded of the winter that ended down here

and the winter still going on up there

Spring is a time of new possibilities

Let's jump on the train and head to another mountain location

This time Nara, in the Kansai region

[Mt.]YOSHINO-YAMA is the destination

and it's accessible by local train from Kyoto and Osaka

The cable cars the oldest in Japan

If the word "old" scares you, try hiking up

There are a lot of local business selling handmade goods

and owners welcome tourists

Well,most of the time

I was walking by a shop

I saw thia big pink ice cream and wondered

What taste is that? What flavor? It happens to be SAKURA flavored ice cream

Its pink, definitely. It's sweetened kinda flowering

I guess that's what a SAKURA taste like

But I found that if you walk around [Mt.]YOSHINO-YAMA

There are a lot of other foods that are made of SAKURA

It's pretty interesting

There are loads of box sweets prepared as gift packs for friends family and coworkers

Try SAKURA liquor

Its pink and sweet and the floating SAKURA blossoms in the bottom

Make the bottle scream springtime

This tent is selling locally made sushi

What's the catch?

Well

It's wrapped in a salty SAKURA tree leaf

It's the perfect snack for the hiking trail

This shop sells SAKURA-YOUKAN

I thick jelly desert made from red bean paste

It has the cherry blossom inside the jelly layer, preserved and ready to eat

There's the original Red Bean flavor

and a MAACHA a green tea variant

Both are delicious

One bite in a YOUKAN and it'll take you back to the Japanese countryside

On my way up I stopped into a local coffee shop

Many are situated right on the edge of a cliff and offer amazing views

[Mt.]YOSHINO-YAMA is considered to be the number one spot in

all of Japan for viewing the cherry blossoms

It said that the first SAKURA trees were planted here over 1300 years ago

The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

With many sacred shrines and temples

and over 30,000 SAKURA trees

The many varieties of [Tree] SAKURA here,

give off many different colors of blossoms and leaves

As the season comes to an end, wind blows the blossoms off the branches

and leave sprout the root

The [Tree]SAKURA in [Mt.]YOSHINO-YAMA were planted in four groves

along the mountainside

Each blooming later in the season

as you get to higher elevations

The top is a perfect place for HANAMI party

picnicking under the cherry blossoms

Kami sembon, the upper 1000 trees

Is a beautiful spectacle to see

It's a patch of springtime colors and a highlight of the area

Whether you're in Tokyo or

your neighborhood are out in the countryside

Between March and April enjoy the cherry blossoms