Cherry Blossoms in Japan

The culture of Japan is impressive in many ways. The first I reacted to was how polite people are. Huge crowds coming off planes in the Tokyo airport queue up and wait their turn for an hour, to come home or get into the country, unlike my experience in China where your face is continually shoved into the back of the person in front of you, and people squeeze past every inch they can gain.

Our first day, we walked through a city park along the river in Tokyo to see the arched, flowering cherry trees. Some of the biggest crowds I have been in since China twenty years ago. Japan has 124 million people, most of them in the huge cities like Tokyo, but so well mannered.

Then later in Kanazawa, we sauntered thru Kenroken Garden with ancient pines, ponds, streams, a zen vibe and lots of blooming cherry trees.