varjohaltia | Japan, April 9th: Osaka Castle

The 8th was a rain day, but on April 9th, I tagged along for a train ride to Osaka. There was a party of various westerners teaching English on the Osaka Castle grounds, in the best cherry blossom viewing tradition with beer and food on blue tarps. People set up spontaneous jam groups with drums and a trumpet and other things, and plenty of "Fried things on a stick" tents dotted the grounds as well. A real concert of some sort was taking place near by, we could only see little glimpses of the stage, but the sound was loud enough and I rather enjoyed some of the performances.

However, since I didn't actually know anyone among the crowd, and shyness intruded once again so I couldn't introduce myself spontaneously to strangers, I mostly roamed the castle grounds instead.

The day was a bit overcast, though it started to clear towards the evening, with a few times that the sun poked out through the ominous clouds. As far as temperature and cherry blossoms, though, it was perfect. I fear there's no way my pictures can capture the spectrum of whites and pinks the blossoms encompass. Just gorgeous.

Once evening fell, the opportunity was there for some dusk and evening shots -- and of course I hadn't brought my tripod, so I had to make do with sticks and stones, but I still captured a few sights of the castle at night.