Of course everyone knows that Japan is the country of cherry blossoms. We had a very cold winter, even up until last week, but all of a sudden we had a few warm and beautiful days, and then suddenly POP! All of the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! Their light sweet smell is in the air and it’s perfect weather for walking in the blossom tunnels along the riverbanks. I’ll have more photos of that after this weekend, when I do hanami — a cherry blossom viewing picnic.

Today I had art class, and it was a perfect day for sketching outside. I took the class to the Souja Shrine in the center of town, and there was a beautiful old cherry tree hanging over a big weather-worn gate and some moss-covered statues. It was too nice to pass up, so we did our sketching there.

Usually I don’t get to spend much class time drawing, but today I was able to get a 20 minute sketch done in between helping the students:

sakura sketch

Here’s a photo of the sakura:

Souja shrine sakura