Hokudai campus hanami

Oh boy, do I have pictures to share! Brace yourself, posts are coming!

Last weekend, we spent Saturday afternoon at a hanami party at the university. Kevin's department had a BBQ between the wings of their lab under two amazingly gorgeous cherry trees. 

The variety in the pictures before were called Somei Yoshino and are the early variety. The ones blooming now are the later variety Yaezakura. Personally, I find this latter variety more beautiful since the blooms are layered like roses and the color is more intense. To read more about cherry blossoms and varieties, click here.

We were told Sapporo and Hokkaido isn't the best for cherry blossoms and I guess, maybe compared to other more famous Japanese cities it's true, but I have NOT been disappointed and it's been a beautiful season to experience!

We left the hanami party, to run some errands and enjoy the weather. We stopped at this little pond on the campus for some pictures. 

 This avenue is pretty famous. At least if you google Hokkaido University it pops up. ;)

The campus and this road runs through town so lots of bike traffic coming and going.

Something unexpected and beautiful we've seen has been the Japanese maples in violent shades of crimson red.

Apparently some varieties open their leaves in this color instead of an ordinary green, then turn green for summer, then red again in fall. 

I can only imagine the beauty of fall here!

 

There was this massive weeping cherry tree on the campus too!

Amazing!

 

One of our neighbors shared her hanami experience with us. She rode her bike 300km to Hakodate in Southern Hokkaido and back. Hakodate is a coastal town famed for it's giant fortress and cherry blossoms. But she said, the variety of trees there aren't appealing to her because they look like "kaeru tamago" or frog eggs. What has been seen, cannot be unseen!

 

And yeah, I'm the person who stops in the middle of a sidewalk to crouch for a flower picture. You're not? ;)

Next: Mother's Day: Japan edition