Surrounded by Beauty
First Published June 28,2018
Let me paint you a quick picture of what it was like to arrive in Tokyo the first week.
Before coming to Tokyo, I was living in Toronto, Canada. It was the tail end of the winter seasons but knowing Canada; the weather wasn’t going to shape up for another month or so. With that everything was still cold, miserable and gray. So you could only imagine someone like myself, who has a passion for colour photography and natural light had a hell of a time for the last four months trying to make photos.
Lucky me
I was getting on a plane and heading over to Tokyo to start my new adventure for the next seven months
I packed literally half a medium-size suitcase, jumped on a plane for 14 hours and landed 13 hours into the future. I won’t get into too much detail of my experience with Air Canada, let’s just say they get an “A” for Affort. After getting through the different stages of departing the airport. I finally got to the subway area and taking that first deep breath of air, and the feelings started to FLOOD in. For those of you who have never been on a Tokyo Subway, there is a distinct smell. I’ve been told it’s bleach and other cleaning supplies, but nothing made me happier. That smell let me know I’ve finally made it!
I made my way to my new home in Akabane. It was a rainy evening, my body was stiff and killing me from the flight, and I was craving for a decent meal. I ended up at a seafood restaurant that had no English menu (FYI: No restaurant in that area has English menu’s), so I had to depend on the power of pointing at random words and hoped for the best. You honestly can’t go wrong with the food here.
Skipping ahead 2 days later, after I’ve semi-recovered from my jetlag and did enough stretching to get my mobility back. I decided to explore my new surroundings. I forgot to mention why I choose such a random time frame to come to Tokyo. It was the beginning of the Cherry blossom season. The minute I saw my first official Sakura from Japan, I was in awe. They are the most beautiful aspect of nature I’ve ever seen. Everything about them seems magical, from the smell, the bright pink hue, the petals in the surrounding area. It felt like you were in a painting or a thoughtfully crafted movie scene. You literally can’t help yourself when you lay your eyes on one. They pull you in with its beauty and instantly start breaking your neck just looking up at them with your mouth wide open. It’s the type of beauty that makes time stand still because I was marvelling at this Sakura for at least an hour with one other woman and her dog.
The best part about this whole thing is that these cherry blossoms are found just about anywhere in the city during this season. Just like my first reaction to them upon seeing for the first time, everyone reacts the same way. The amount of people surrounding each blossom has caused the need for security or law enforcement to be present, to keep the crowds moving and off the streets.
I did my best to try and capture some of the scenes, but honestly none come close to achieving the experience in person.
