But, to such a person like me who does not care a bit, one of my friends sent a mail to say that she was extremely impressed by the cherry blossoms at Senzokuike and she would go there to view the blossoms every year from now on for the rest of her life. Are they that beautiful? Then I have to go and see them. My curiosity was growing bigger and bigger.

Once the cherry blossoms came into full bloom, it has been raining quite much, causing the temperature to drop, and now they are starting to fall. Thinking that this week must be the last chance, I checked my schedule with serious eyes. Then I decided that it would be best to go early in the morning, and left home before the day broke.

From Gotanda, I took a three-car-train of the Tokyu Ikegami Line. I got the impression that it was a tranquil train. While looking at the sky getting brighter, I arrived at Senzokuike. As I crossed a footbridge, there was a pond right in front of me. I heard that it was named Senzokuike after a legend saying that Nichiren has washed his legs in this pond on his way to the spa in Hitachi. Since the area around the pond has been chosen as a scenic zone, there were many houses with quite nice atmosphere, and a park in the neighborhood was also well-maintained.

As I looked over from the edge of the pond, I could catch the sight of a hill with a mixture of pale pink and soft green colors of young buds. I started to walk around the pond toward the hill. There were many stalls standing side by side, and I could easily guess that it must have been crowded with a large number of cherry-blossom viewers also on the previous day. Though the shops were closed, there still was some smell of sauce remaining in the air. A lot of trashes have been left, making crows happy. A garbage man was stuffing the great quantity of trashes into a van, and cleaning. It was a familiar scene you see at any famous place to view cherry blossoms. I thought it would be terribly crowded with viewers in the afternoon, and be as bad as I can hardly find a place to walk.

Partly because it was early in the morning, there were many old people gathering to take part in walking, radio gymnastic exercises, and traditional Chinese pugilism. Greeting them "Good morning" as I passed by, I walked close to a hill. I looked up. I could see some branches of cherry trees spreading.

Having my heart filled with expectation, I walked up the stairs. What kind of cherry blossoms would be waiting there? Then, what came into my eyes there was a grove of cherry trees. The cherry trees standing together were pretty tall. I looked up and saw the cherry blossoms making the ceiling. The branches extending from the tree on the right and from the one on the left are crossing each other. I felt as if I were standing at the bottom of a stairwell. As the whole area was covered by the cherry blossoms, it was like a dome. If I made a full turn while looking up, it was just like a kaleidoscope. The sun was high up, and its light was making the white color of petals even more striking. Being exposed to the wind, it was changing the color.

I was glad to enjoy the sight in the morning when there was nobody around. If I see it in the night when cherry blossoms would be lighted up, I might be able to have a stronger sense of being under a dome, but by having the whole scene to myself, I could really feel that the cherry blossoms were pouring over me.

It might be a matter of course as Senzokuike has been long known as a place of scenic beauty since the Edo period, but I sincerely enjoyed a feeling of an outgoing pleasure trip. And, there now is a new cherry-blossom-mark on a map of Tokyo I have in my mind. It is a beauty of Tokyo that a variety of items on the list are increasing day by day. By straying off your ordinary course, you can find something new. Only by going an area you have never been, your list of discoveries would be huge. This morning, I feel like I made a big trip.

Translated by Maiko Noda