April 5, 2022
Nōrin Sakura Dōri(Nōrin Cherry Blossom Street) is one of the most popular cherry blossom spots in Tsukuba. Someiyoshino and Yayoizakura cherry blossoms are proudly on parade all along this 1.5km street on the Agricultural Research Institute campus. 🌸🌸🌸
"Where flowers bloom, so does hope." - Lady Bird Johnson -
Camera : iPhone 8
2,000 year old cherry blossom tree - Jindaizakura. It's the oldest cherry blossom tree in Japan! Truly amazing!! It's a must see. 🌸🌸🌸
3 Great Cherry Blossom Trees of Japan There are three Great Cherry Blossom Trees in Japan. They are Miharu Takizakura (1,000 years old) in Fukushima, Usuzumizakura (1,500 years old) in Gifu and Jindaizakura (2,000 years old) in Yamanashi. The three great sakura trees have lived for many centuries and still counting. They are beautiful, magnificent and legendary. Jindaizakura One of the three great cherry blooms trees is Yamataka Jindaizakura located in Jissoji Temple. It's the oldest among the three and estimated 2,000 years old. The history of Jindaizakura goes all the way back to legendary Yamato Takeru known as Prince Otsu who served as Japan’s 12th Emperor. It is said that it was Yamato Takeru who planted the tree while traveling in the region during the first century. Uchūzakura In Jissoji Temple there is another interesting sakura called Uchūzakura, namely, Space Cherry Blossom Tree. In November 2008, NASA's space shuttle Endeavor took 118 seeds of Jindaizakura harvested by local school children to the International Space Station (ISS). The seeds returned to Earth after orbiting the planet for 8 months. Among those seeds planted, two of them germinated and one of the two was planted in the garden of Jissoji Temple, that is, Uchūzakura/Space Cherry Blossoms. Interestingly, some of Space Cherry Blossoms have 6 petals instead of 5. Furthermore, Buddhism has it that there are 6 realms into karmic rebirth...hell, hungry gods, animals, angry gods, humanity and heavenly gods. Perhaps, the 6th petal appearing in some of Space Cherry Blossoms represents the realm of heaven as in Buddhism since the seed orbited Earth in the heavenly sky. Jindaizakura Info: https://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/foreign/english/topics/jindaizakurar1eng.html Jissoji Temple: https://www.jindaizakura.com My visit to 1,000 year old Miharu Takizakura in Fukushima: https://youtu.be/7YT-LRxBxjc
