KYOTO, JAPAN — The sakura remained in bloom longer this season, as if in delicate defiance of recent events in Japan.

Like that of no other people, the Japanese spirit is enduring, perhaps because they maintain a genuine appreciation for the little things — like the awe-inspiring sakura (cherry blossom).

 

Undeterred by the reality of recent news from Japan, I returned to the Kansai region and fell in love with Kyoto all over again.

 

I did not know what to expect during my brief return visit, but I was received with great warmth and enthusiasm. Arriving at the Hoshinoya ryokan in Arashiyama by boat, my hosts bowed as the soft chime and hum of a Buddhist altar bell welcomed me.

Strolling through Kyoto’s Nisihiki Market, I sampled sweet little confections thematically crafted for the cherry blossom season.

On one side of the lane, I saw small wooden boxes filled with tiny pink flowers of sugar and toothpicksized chopsticks for decoration. On the other, a display of skewered octopi stuffed with quail eggs sitting under a laminated sign reading “Delicious! How about
trying this?”

IFrom the cutest commercial packaging I wandered to the pristine gardens of one of Kyoto’s ancient temples. At the labyrinthine Fushimi-Inari shrine, kids on a high school class trip playfully weaved in and out of the thousands of torii gates that line the paths up the Inari mountain — Inari is said to be the god of rice.

 

I was wonderstruck by this ancient Heian period temple complex, founded in 711, whose perfectly manicured paths meander up the mountainside.

Lost in thought, I got happily lost in the network of trails dotted with young couples on a romantic afternoon stroll. For the moment, there are fewer crowds, but it seems that those who are visiting recognize that the events of the north are so far away, and that the Kansai region is as serene as ever.

 

It is springtime in Japan, and the country is in bloom again.

 

 

 

Information about Japan
• Air Canada offers daily flights to Tokyo from Toronto.
• Tour East Holidays offers a number of cherry blossom tours of Japan. Go to www.toureast.com for information.
• One of the best places in Japan to see cherry blossoms is the southern island of Kyushu.
• For information on Japan, go to www.ilovejapan.ca
• TraveLife’s Steve Hope will be regularly reporting on travel events in Japan in a new blog beginning in January - go to www.travelife.ca to read his blogs on the land of the rising sun.