Sakura 2014 Part 1 - Osaka, Japan

Cherry blossom 2014 - Osaka, Japan.

Night viewing

Location: Temmabashi Station & Osaka Castle

Date: 8/4/2013

Temmabashi Station - A railway station on the Keihan Electric Railway and Osaka Municipal Subway.

The very first view I got after exiting Temmabashi Station. Simply stunning!

To the left. 

 To the right. The purple bridge is Temmabashi (天満橋).

 It's already towards the end of Sakura season. More petals on the floor than on the trees.

Nonetheless it's a different scenery, still beautiful.

We walked all the way to Osaka Castle, to Noshinomaru Garden for its night illumination (only for a limited time, from 1800 to 2200; Admission fee: 500yen).

It's actually...quite far. Japanese were so kind, we were asking one young gentleman waiting to cross the road of the directions to Osaka Castle, he was unsure of the way himself but despite the language barrier, he tried his very best to ask around. In the end, he just told us, it's ok, he will walk us there :O Too kind! (of course we did not let him walk us all the way to Osaka Castle, too shy too thick-skinned if we let that happen -.-) After clarifying the directions with him, we managed to get there. It's at least 15-20 minutes of walk from Temmabashi Station (in fact, we were walking at fast speed).

 Entering  Noshinomaru Garden.

 A bit disappointing because the sakura trees in this garden is slightly past peak. 

 But this view made it worth the visit! Osaka Castle at night is such a beauty. What more with sakura trees complementing the view.

 There were still quite a number of groups having picnic in the garden. It's the season to gather and enjoy afterall... and thanks to the nice spring weather too! Made all the walking and outdoor activities much more easier and lovely.

 Only about 40% of sakura left on the trees. 

 and we walked all the way back to Temmabashi Station. Somehow a shorter route. 

Temmabashi. 

Can't stop pressing the camera shutter in front of pretty views like this. Trust me, it's much more attractive seeing it with your own eyes. I don't have a powerful camera and I'm not good in photography plus no editing to the photos, these photos didn't do the justice to the real beauty of the night views I saw that night.

But all the beautiful images were instilled in my memory, clearly.