The photos will have to do the talking because I'm still worn out from the hike up Nago Mountain in Okinawa, Japan yesterday. It was cold, windy and rained a few times but, was one of the best Cherryblossom (桜) Festivals I've seen in a long time. Look and enjoy.
Getting lost for a while in the mountains, thinking we could beat traffic, my trusty driver from Texas (Rusty), spotted this scene. So, we pulled over and snapped a few shots of the sun.
Wherever it was shining, it never hit us. We managed to miss it all day.
Here's what we ran into as soon as we parked the car and entered the walkway leading to the mountain. It was an international conglomeration of festival goers. Look. I think one guy was all the way from Italy.
And the first thing you smell isn't people. It's all the chicken yakitori (chicken on a stick) and soy sauce cooking on charcoal fires. But, there was a mountain to climb so, I didn't eat.
The stairways going up the mountain must be made for people with smaller feet than mine. I had to stretch my legs and go up two at a time. I have no idea how many steps they have but, I know I'm not in any hurry to go back and try it again today.
If you really need to know how many steps there are, maybe, somebody from Wikipedia can tell you.
Or, ask a kid. They count stuff like that.
Everytime you think you have reached the top of the mountain, you find more stairs to climb. In front of that concrete lantern is a cherryblossom sprig. The red, white and blue balls you see strung out above everything are paper lanterns. They're made by Orion Beer Company, my favorite beer, just in case you ever want to buy me one.
See that girl with the umbrella? She must have popped into a dozen of my pictures while I was trying to compose a great shot. I kept this one, only because she wasn't moving and, she was a little bit cute.
But, I really don't like girls in my pictures, especially when they've been rained on.
I'll go back someday and get you a good picture when she's not there and it isn't raining.
Did I mention it was cold ? Well, here you go. It was so freakin' cold they had a snowman and kids in winter clothes playing in the snow. It's not supposed to snow on my tropical island.
They imported the stuff or had a machine making it.
I've never seen snow here, before but, I'm glad they had it to keep the kids busy. It's hard to pick your nose when you're busy making snowballs. Ever notice that ? All kids should have snow.
This was the best part. They had sleds and trails with snow on them. People were lined up, waiting to hop on a sled, or whatever they call those things.
They were having a blast. It reminded me of the Swiss Alps.
Only thing was, I kept looking around for the ski lift so I wouldn't have to walk all the way up the mountain. They didn't have one.
There weren't any blue skies to shoot but, I wanted to get some pictures away from the crowds and found this suspension bridge. This is another shot I'll have to go back and try on a nice sunny day.
Nago City and the bay are down below the cherryblossomed railings on the bridge. That'd be the East China Sea out on the horizon.
I killed some time here waiting for sunset. I zoomed with my lens a few times and as far as I could tell, the Chinese were staying on their side of the ocean. So, don't worry. I'm always checking.
This is what I was waiting for. The sun went down, the wet girl that kept popping up, must've got cold and went home and I got to set up right in front of the stairs.
The guy with the cell phone camera was holding still and I caught the whole scene with half a second on my camera shutter.
All I had left to do after that was get a close up shot of a Cherryblossom (桜) or two and I'd be happy.
The freezing, the cold, even the rain didn't really matter. Everybody on that mountain had a good time. The Nago City Cherryblossom Festival in Okinawa, Japan only happens one weekend out of the year. It's a special event and worth some sore muscles to climb that mountain. I've got a picture to prove it !
The plan yesterday was to drive up Mt Yadake in northern Okinawa, Japan and shoot plenty of scenic photos. "Doc, I left my big lens home so I'll get plenty of wide angle shots of the scenery and what takes place at a Cherryblossom (桜) Festival. I'm always zooming-in on wildlife and doing close ups. I have to break that habit. Travel magazines want to see the festival tents, people doing festival stuff and they want photos of the festival foods so, that's what I'll shoot today".
That's what I told Doc, anyway. I learned a few things yesterday and Doc did, too.
As soon as Doc parked the car, I shot this branch across the road. I had to zoom in a little and shoot quick because of all the people and cars going up and down the hill.
I just wanted a photo of the blossoms with the ferns in the background without any distractions.
Well, Doc started it all when he wandered up the road and shot a bird. He had a really decent shot.
Heck, I can do that, too! So, I shot this Japanese White Eye (Mejiro) in the blossoms.
Then, while I was waiting for some more birds to land where I wanted them, along came this bee.
The Japanese White Eye got in the spot where the sun would hit his eye again so, I shot this one.
He had the nerve to look me right in the eyes so, I shot him again. Wildlife is lots more fun to shoot than people and food at festivals. Birds really don't care what you do with their photos.
When it clouded over a bit and there were no birds or bees around to shoot, I got bored and decided to shoot this girl. She was across the road snapping pictures with her cell phone.
Around noon we decided we should walk down the mountain and see what was cooking in the festival tents. Here's my first wide angle shot of the day. I even got some people and cars. Yay!
Then, I decided to snap a shot where I zoomed-in a bit so you can see what we call festival food.
And zoomed-in even more to show you Yakisoba. It's probably the healthiest festival food you can buy.
While Doc and I were eating some of the not-so-healthy-for-you festival foods like, french fries and sausage we noticed people snapping photos of these white flowers.
Neither of us could figure out what they were. They were blooming at a Cherryblossom Festival. But, Okinawa doesn't have white cherryblossoms.
At first we thought, maybe, they were imported from mainland Japan and were Japanese Cherryblossoms. That didn't make sense, though.
Okinawa's Cherryblossoms need a cold snap of weather to start blooming. Japanese Cherryblossoms wait for the spring thaw to bloom.
The Cherry blosom season is just starting, in fact, only about 25% of the trees are in bloom right now. So, I'll be busy the next few weeks chasing the action at several festivals on Okinawa.
Yesterday was a good experience for me and taught me three very important things for the upcoming season.
1. Wildlife photographers should not take a zoom lens to document Cherryblossom Festivals.
2. Yakisoba would have been a better festival food to eat because fries and sausage are greasy.
3. The flowers in the last photo aren't Cherryblossoms, they are Plum Blossoms.
Now, we have Orchid, Violet, Azalea, Iris, Lilly and Cherryblossom (桜) Festivals on the island of Okinawa, Japan and probably a few more Flower Festivals I never heard of, like, Plum Blossoms.
Are there Flower Festivals in your neck of the woods, too?
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RELATED POSTS: CHERRY BLOSSOM OKINAWA, JAPAN
DOC'S BLOG : PORTRAITS OF AN ISLAND PEOPLE
Here it is Christmas morning and instead of posting a Frosty the Snowman for everyone to see, I'm giving you a bird in a blossoming cherry tree. Did Santa have a little bit too much eggnog?
Not really. Here in Okinawa we don't get any snow. That's something the folks up in northern Japan do. Down south, where I live, the coldest weather makes the cherryblossoms (桜) come out.
We don't have the same kind of cherry trees you see in Japan and Washington, DC. Our cherry trees come from Taiwan. It takes a good cold snap of wintery weather to make them sprout the little red buds that blossom. And they get cherryblossoms before they ever sprout leaves.
The Japanese White Eyes love cherryblossoms. Being a wildlife photographer and a nature-lover, I guess you could say I love cherryblossoms, too. As much as I dislike cold weather, I'm looking forward to that freezing cold day when it wakes up the naked cherry tree branches and the little red buds start popping out all over. It'll be just as pretty as the lights on your Christmas tree.
FROM OKINAWA, JAPAN: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !
