Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

1 Feb

In Japan cherry blossoms or Sakura would definitely be categorized as a “NATIONAL OBSESSION.” I mean, the Japanese love Sakura so much that they flock by the thousands every year to get a chance to see them up close and personal. I don’t blame them…they are absolutely beautiful!

Because Okinawa is such a tropical island, their Sakura bloom a little earlier compared to mainland Japan. I recently had a chance to take a trip up north for the 47th annual Nago Cherry Blossom Festival. Nago is one of the best places on Okinawa to see cherry blossoms because it hosts nearly 20,000 cherry trees.

Directions:

From Naha Airport take the Okinawa Expressway, exit at Kyoda the last exit. Continue north toward Nago. Once in Nago, turn right onto Route 84 under the walkway. On your right you will see Orion Brewery. Turn left at the brewery and take an immediate right. During cherry blossom season and on the days of the festival it is advised to park well away from the park both for cost and to allow for an easy escape when leaving..

Here are a couple of shots from the festival.

Click to enlarge

3602  320x240 Nago Sakura (Medium) Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

3598  320x240 Nago Cherry Blossoms (Medium) Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

3592  320x240 Cherry Blossoms Orion (Medium) Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

3594  320x240 Its an Obsession (Medium) Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

You can view all of the Nago cherry blossom photo’s by going to my Okinawa album then select the Nago gallery.

8 Responses to “Photo Day: Nago Cherry Blossom Festival”

  1. John 02. Feb, 2009 at 9:06 am #

    I didn’t make it up there this year. Looks like you had decent weather though!

  2. Jay 02. Feb, 2009 at 1:50 pm #

    The weather was surprisingly nice this year. I believe they have festivals that take place at Yogi Park in Naha. So, another chance to check them out!

  3. DAD 02. Feb, 2009 at 4:00 pm #

    Jay,
    Very nice pictures of the blossoms, I wish that I could be there. It looks like the weather is really nice there right now? I figured it would be just a bit cooler than normal.

  4. Tom Schaefer 02. Feb, 2009 at 5:35 pm #

    That was such a fun day. You took some really good pics by the way, really impressive.

  5. Chris 06. Feb, 2009 at 8:08 pm #

    they bloomed really well this year…

  6. Jay 06. Feb, 2009 at 9:11 pm #

    They are actually looking really nice this year man. A lot better than the first year we went and nothing had bloomed yet!!

  7. Steve "Kern" Ramsdell 07. Feb, 2009 at 11:30 am #

    Great use of depth of view, or depth of feild. Stunning clarity of a nice subject!!

  8. Jay 07. Feb, 2009 at 11:59 am #

    Steve,
    Thanks for the comment. I just love to take pictures of Sakura!

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