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Springtime showing all its charm!
With spring in full force now, everyone is getting outside to enjoy the warm weather. While there still may be a few days of rain and chills, know that soon enough the weather will clear and you may even want it to cool down! With the flowers blooming and trees bursting with green, it is the perfect time to spend a day outside. A walk through the nearby park, a picnic, or just relaxing on a bench outside all sound pretty good right now!
Cherry blossom season was at its peak in April, with the vibrant pinks out all across the country. Areas such as Mt. Yoshino in Nara Prefecture, famous for its thousands of cherry trees, and Himeji Castle in Hyogo, burst into bloom. Golden Week, a string of consecutive holidays in Japan, also occurred at the tail end of April, giving many some free time to explore. One holiday celebrated during this time is Children's Day, you may have noticed 'koinobori', carp shaped streamers decorating the area.
The middle of spring has a huge amount of festivals going on. The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival in Aomori Prefecture began on April 19th, you'll see the moat around Hirosaki Castle looking like a sheet of pink with all the petals that fall! Takada Castle Site Park also illuminated their cherry blossoms throughout the night, making for a spectacular site the whole day through. Cherry blossoms are not the only things in bloom though, the Tonami Tulip Fair in Toyama began on April 23rd, wowing visitors with arrangements of thousands of tulips. There's also the Fuji Shibazakura Festival, where fields of 'shibazakura', or pink moss come to life in beautiful pink, which began on April 13th.
Maybe you even paired your cherry blossom viewing with something a little more high octane. The F1 Japanese Grand Prix held at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture was April 7th, with Max Verstappen once again taking first place. The Michelin Guide also released their guide to Osaka and Kyoto on April the 8th, highlighting the restaurants that have added their coveted stars.
For this month we have things to do in Kochi and Ehime in Shikoku, a giveaway, waterfalls and more, let's get into it!
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Read an interview with Natalie Leon, author of the newly released book 'The Japanese Art of Living Seasonally: An Invitation to Celebrate Every Day'!
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We're giving away two copies of Natalie Leon's book, 'The Japanese Art of Living Seasonally', find the giveaway on our Instagram!
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While Shikoku might be the smallest of the main islands of Japan, it is full of magical experiences, here are some things to do in Kochi Prefecture!
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The contestants of Race Across the World are still in Japan, let's see where else they explore as they traverse the country!
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With warming temperatures and clearing skies, it's time to see the outdoors. Here are some awesome hiking trails in Japan to explore!
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Ehime Prefecture, also in Shikoku, has just as many things to do as any other spot, let's see some of them!
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Experience Japan with some amazing tours!
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Beautiful greenery is all around!
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Summer is nearly upon us, and that means that this month's kigo will have a summery connection! Let's see what we can find!
Our word for this edition is 薄暑! Read as 'hakusho', this word can mean the slight warm weather that you feel at the beginner of summer. As the days are getting clearer and warmer, we're definitely feeling more and more of the 薄暑! Near the end of spring, there are occasionally days where you will feel the next season approaching, and think to yourself, 'ah, summer!' So what are we waiting for, let's make another haiku!
Haikus are a 17 mora combination in 5-7-5 style, with occasional 'kireji' punctuation.
Our first line has our seasonal word and is 5 mora long with a kireji - 薄暑や (hakusho ya)
Then a 7 mora line - 風が感じたと (kaze ga kanjita to)
And lastly back to 5 mora - 鈴が鳴る (suzu ga naru)
Completed, our haiku reads as -
薄暑や (hakusho ya)
風が感じたと (kaze ga kanjita to)
鈴が鳴る (suzu ga naru)
In early heat of summer,
I can feel the wind,
The bell rings.
Haiku writing can be challenging yet rewarding, have you written one before?
Send a haiku you've made to our Instagram account @visitjapan_uk and we may feature them in future newsletters!
Here's some highlights of what we've learned over the past few months:
1) While Shikoku is the smallest island of the four main Japanese islands, Kochi and Ehime Prefectures show just how much there is to see there. And that's only part of the island!
2) Japan's nature is unparalleled, have you been to any of the waterfalls on the list of 100?
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There's lots of Japan related events and shows happening in the UK - Let's see what's going on! |
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- The physical edition (called the Special Edition) of Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film 'Monster' will be released on June 3rd, if you haven't seen it already it is one of the best films of the year! But don't forget 'Evil Does Not Exist' by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and 'OPUS' by Neo Sora either!
- The mascot of the Osaka Expo 2025, Myaku Myaku, has recently arrived in the UK, maybe you'll spot the character around somewhere!
- Japan House's new exhibition 'Design Discoveries: Towards a DESIGN MUSEUM JAPAN' opened on the 15th of May. It tries to answer the question of 'What does design mean to you?' The exhibit is open until September 8th.
- The V&A Dundee's long anticipated kimono exhibition, 'KIMONO: Kyoto to Catwalk' is now open until the 5th of January.
- 'Edo Pop: Japanese Prints 1825 - 1895', an exhibit on ukiyo-e artwork from the 19th century about the city of Edo (now Tokyo), is on at the Watt's Gallery - Artists' Village in Surrey.
- The Annely Juda Fine Art Gallery is hosting an art exhibition entitled 'Raku Kichizaemon XV Jikinyu' featuring tea bowls designed by Raku Kichizaemon XV Jikinyu, with a family history of design dating back hundreds of years!
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In Japan there is a list of the top 100 waterfalls in the entire country, let's take a look at a few you could visit on your next trip!
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That’s it from us for this month!
Keep up with all this and much, much more by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
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