Sakura Viewing in Yoshino-yama

A Sunday (April 8, 2007) getaway to Yoshino-yama in Nara.


Yoshino-yama is claimed to be the best spot to view sakuras in Japan. I became acquainted with this place from the television program a few weeks back. Jill happened to watch the same program too, so originally we planned to go there together. But after looking at the train route and a forecasted number of tourists there, we gave up the our original thoughts and agreed to go there seperately. At the end, Jill didn't make it there, but I managed to grab Pe to come with me.

Yoshino-yama, or Mt.Yoshino, is a sacred mountain located at the center of Nara and a part of Yoshino-Kumano National Park. It's a site for disciplinary practice of mountaineering asceticism which is a sect of Buddhism that incorporates the ancient mountain worship. The founder of Kinpusen-ji Zao-do Temple in Yoshino-yama designated sakura trees as the sacred tree and, as a result, many devotees donated sakura trees and led the mountain to be full of sakuras.

It took us awfully nearly 3 hours to reach there from our places.
Keihan Railway: Demachiyanagi --(25 mins)--> Tambabashi Station
Kintetsu Railway: Tambabashi --(30 mins)--> Yamato Saidaiji --(35 mins)--> Kashihara Jingu-mae --(60 mins)--> Yoshino Station


Map of Yoshino Yama
The mountain is divided mainly into Shimo-senbon (literally the lower 1,000 trees), Naka-senbon (the middle 1,000 trees), Kami-senbon (the upper 1,000 trees) and Oku-senbon (the inner 1,000 trees). We reached there around 2 p.m. to see millions and millions of people there at the station. Figuring out it might be the best way, we took a bus up from Yoshino-station to Naka-senbon area.

long wait-line
We then strolled further up the mountain to Kami-senbon area. Too bad the weather hasn't been as good. It rained on Saturday and a lot of sakura petals have already started falling. It was also cloudy the day we went. If we came at the perfect timing, I'm sure we'd have got a far more magnificent snapshots of the sceneries.

nice picnic place
Yoshino Yama from Hanayagura Viewpoint in Kami-senbon
at Chikurin Temple
Kinpusen-ji as our background
1,000 sakura trees at a glance(一目千本) at Yoshi-mizu shrine
We recognized they do have a lot of maple trees planted inbetween these sakuras. Surely, the mountain will also be beautiful for autumn leaves.

Public bus runs only until 17.30 p.m. and we obviously stayed longer than that which means the only option for us was to be on our foot descending. There were a lot of Japanese papers, sweets, souvenirs, sakura soft cream, among other things along the route, so it wasn't all that bad to have to walk for a few kilometers. In front of Kinpusen-ji entrance, there is this Kusa-mochi (mochi made of mugwort leaves) at a shop called Bushado that was REALLY, REALLY good! The mochi was with quite a strong leaf flavor, but it contrasted but blended well with the right amount of sweetness of red bean inside. Two thumbs up! If anyone ever passed by this store, try their samples and buy some for me!!! =P

the most delicious mochi I've ever tried! (萬松堂の草もち)
It was actually a good idea to leave Kyoto in the late morning and stayed there til most of people already left. We had quite a pleasant long ride back to Kyoto.

p.s. Happy Anniversary both dad&mom and P'Yai&P'JR na~~ :)