The Last Blossoms

The cherry blossom season in Japan is celebrated with parades and festivals and teaming crowds around popular viewing spots. I traveled to Nago Castle Park, a popular site for cherry blossom viewing, with my neighbors Alex and Eric the weekend after the festival and parade. We managed to avoid the crowd but also the majority of the cherry blossoms. The trees were more green new leaves than hot pink flowers, but we still explored the ruins and snapped pictures of the blossoms we could find.

The castle is no longer in existence, but you can take the stairs that lead to the top of the hill where a tiny temple overlooks the ocean. Alex led me through how to pray at a temple. Usually you wash your hands and mouth with water first, but since this temple was teeny tiny there was no water available. You give your offering of coins into the box before calling the attention of the spirits. You usually clap your hands twice, but at this site there was a bell to ring instead. You then bow your head and fold your hands in order to pray. I was so happy to have a friend there to make sure I did not do something terribly wrong or rude!

We saw folded paper tied into the trees and determined they were fortunes! I wanted my fortune too! I used the fortune gumball machine that drops a slip of paper in a plastic circle for only 100 yen ($1). Then of course I realized I could not read my fortune. I am still going to try to get it translated, so I will let you know when I know what will happen. I then tied my slip of paper on a string with a line of others.

Does anybody want to translate for me?

It was a beautiful, clear day that I got to spend with friends. Even if we missed most of the blossoms, we managed to photograph a few and get our exercise in after climbing hundreds of ancient stairs!