Keage Incline (蹴上) is one of the most popular places to see cherry blossoms in Kyōto.
It was at Keage (蹴上) that boats were carried a short distance by rail down a steep incline from the Lake Biwa Canal (琵琶湖疏水) into the city's canal network.
The Path of Philosophy runs between Nanzen-ji and Ginkaku-ji.
It came to prominence after the philosophers and Kyōto University professors Nishida Kitarō (西田幾多郎 1870-1945) and Tanabe Hajime (田辺元 1885-1962) used the trail as an exercise route.
First opened in 1890 (lengthened in 1912), the irrigation channel that the Philosopher's Path (哲学の道) follows is fed by water from the Lake Biwa Canal. The 2km course (which takes about 30 minutes to walk) is lined with over 500 sakura trees.
The cherry trees on the UW campus are at about peak bloom. As much as I like the trees (and I love the trees!), I like even more the fact that so many people come every year to see them; they stand around smiling and taking pictures of each other with the trees all around them, and it gives me hope to see humans so thoroughly enjoying naturally beautiful things.
gate's cherry tree
all this flit-flit flitting
is work!
門桜ちらちら散るが仕事哉
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶).
Trans. David G. Lanoue.
The cherry blossoms should already have been well on their way to reaching their peak in Kyōto, but cold and rainy weather has thrown blossom season into chaos. Understandable many trees are reluctant to bloom right now.
Slowly the temperature is rising, so next week should be one of the most pleasant times for an aimless wander in the city. #京都#Kyoto#sakura
The hanami we know today, one of 'banqueting' beneath the cherry blossoms, began in 812.
Inspired by a beautiful sakura tree he had seen in the grounds of Jishu-jinja (地主神社), Emperor Saga hosted a poetry competition and feast in the blossom-filled imperial gardens (花宴の節).
From 831 cherry blossom banquets became an annual event at court, and as the Heian period deepened 'hanami' came to refer only to sakura.
As cherry blossom parties became fashionable amongst the aristocracy, 'hanami' began to appear in works such as 'The Tale of Genji' (源氏物語).
"Yes, the cherry trees put this truth very plainly: none of the glory of blossoms and autumn leaves lasts long in this fleeting world."
-Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部 ? 973-1031?).
The Tokugawa shoguns would help to popularize 'hanami' through successive programs of tree planting across Edo.
Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光 1604-51) had trees brought from Yoshino to Kanei-ji, and in 1720 Tokugawa Yoshimune (徳川吉宗 1684-1751) planted trees in Asakusa and Asukayama.