ヤエザクラが咲く (Double Cherry Blossoms Bloom)

　私のウォーキング経路に沿う家々の庭にヤエザクラの多い場所がある。昨日から始まった造幣局（大阪市北区）の「桜の通り抜け」に合わせるように、それらの庭のヤエザクラも、いま咲き誇っている（1 枚目の写真）。他方、先に満開を通り越したソメイヨシノ、オオシマザクラ、ヤマザクラの花も、まだ木々に残っていて（2〜4 枚目の写真）、鈴の宮公園の全景はなお華やかである（5 枚目の写真）。あす、近くの笠池公園でこの辺の自治会連合の桜祭りがある予定で、模擬店用のテントが準備されていた（6 枚目の写真）。ソメイヨシノばかりこの公園も、残り花でなんとか祭りの格好がつきそうである。

Along my walking course, there is a place where each yard of many houses has a double-cherry tree. Like going along with the opening of the Cherry Blossom Viewing site yesterday at Mint (Kita-ku, Osaka), double cherry blossoms in those yards are now in full bloom (the top photo). On the other hand, trees of Yoshino cherry, Oshima cherry and Japanese cherry, which became full bloom earlier, still have blossoms (from the second to the fourth photos), and the panoramic view of Suzunomiya Park keeps gorgeous shades (the fifth photo). A cherry festival of neighborhood associations around here is planned to be held tomorrow in Kasaike Park near my home, and they were making preparation of tents for refreshment stands (the bottom photo). This park has only Yoshino cherry trees, but the festival will be blessed to some extent by the remaining blossoms.

東京で ２：皇居東御苑 (In Tokyo -2-: The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace)

　東京から帰る 4 月 4 日の午前、M・Y 君と東京駅で待ち合わせ、皇居東御苑を案内して貰った。われわれが大手門から入ろうとすると、ガードマンらしい人が、「乾通りへ行くのですか」と尋ねた。当日は桜並木で有名な乾通りの一般公開初日だったので、そこへ行くのならば坂下門の方へと誘導するつもりだったらしい。一般公開を知らなかったわれわれは、「いいえ」と答えて通過した。後日のテレビニュースなどで、乾通りは公開期間中大混雑だったことを知った。御苑内では、二の丸庭園や、三の丸尚蔵館で開催中の展覧会「佳麗なる近代京焼－有栖川宮家伝来、幹山伝七の逸品」を見た。

　写真は上から、皇居正門石橋旧電燈、キブシ（木五倍子、キブシ科キブシ属、学名 Stachyurus praecox）の花、二の丸庭園のサクラ、同庭園のもう一本のサクラの木、石垣の上のサクラ。（完）

In the morning of April 4, I met Mr. M. Y. at Tokyo station. He guided me to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace near there. When we were going to enter the gardens from Ōte-mon Gate, a person, who seemed to be a security guard, said to us, "Do you go to Inui Street?" It was the first day of the opening to the public of Inui-dōri street known for its beautiful cherry trees. If we had wanted to go there, he would have made us go to the other gate, Sakashita-mon. We did not know about the opening of Inui-dōri street. So, we said, "No" and passed through Ōte-mon Gate. In a TV news on later days, I learned that there was a big crowd all through the opening days of Inui-dōri street. In East Gardens, we saw Ninomaru Garden and the exhibition "Denshichi Kanzan's Kyo-yaki (Kyoto-ware), Arisugawas' Legacy," which was being held at Museum of the Imperial Collections.

The photos above show, from top to bottom, an electric light formerly used on the stone bridge at the main gate of Imperial Palace, blossoms of Stachyurus praecox, cherry blossoms in Ninomaru Garden, another cherry tree in the same garden and a cherry tree on a stone wall. (End)

東京で １：雨中のサクラ (In Tokyo -1-: Cherry Blossoms in Rain)

　4 月 3 日、東京・四谷で旧金沢菫台高校同期生関東在住者会があり、出席した。参加者は 9 名、うち女性 1 名だった。正午から午後 3 時まで、イタリア料理を楽しみながら歓談した。この会は、われわれが 80 歳になる明後年まで続けて、それ以後のことはその時点で考えることになった。

　昼の間は雨がやむという前日の予報がはずれて、あいにく雨が降り続いたが、雨中のサクラも風情があった。写真 1 枚目は JR 市ヶ谷駅から見た新見附濠の土手のサクラ。2、3 枚目は JR 四谷駅付近のサクラ。4、5 枚目は同じく JR 四谷駅付近のサクラを同期会会場のビルの 3 階から撮影。（つづく）

On April 3, the reunion of the Kanto-Region members who finished Kanazawa Kindai Senior High School in 1954 was held in Yotsuya, Tokyo, and I attended it. There were nine participants, one of whom was a woman. From noon to 15:00, we enjoyed talking over Italian dishes. This meeting will be held until 2016, when we will be 80 years old, and discussion about further continuation will be made at that point of time.

The weather forecast told that it would be cloudy in the daytime of April 3. Unfortunately, it kept raining all the day. However, cherry blossoms also look fine in the rain. The top photo shows cherry blossoms on the bank of Shinmitsuke Moat as seen from JR Ichigaya Station; and the second and third, cherry blossoms near JR Yotsuya Station. The fourth and fifth photos were taken at the third floor of the building where the reunion was held and also show the cherry blossoms near the latter station. (To be continued)

桜桜…花ざかり (Cherry Blossoms, Cherry Blossoms, ... in Full Bloom)

　上の写真は、4 月 1 日にわが家の近くで撮影したもの（4 月 2 日から 4 日まで上京していたので、掲載が遅れた）。1 枚目は西図書館前のサクラのトンネル。2 枚目は鳳公園に昨年植えられたばかりの若いサクラの並木。3 枚目は同公園のシダレザクラ。4 枚目は鳳南町ツボスミレ公園のオオシマザクラ。これらのサクラを見歩いていたら、ふと「桜」という歌が思い出された。

桜　桜
野山も里も
見渡す限り
霞か雲か
朝日に匂う
桜　桜
花ざかり

この歌のメロディはこちらのウェブページで聞ける（歌詞もそのページからコピーした）。

The photos above were taken in the vicinity of my home on April 1 (Because I had been to Tokyo from April 2 to 4, posting of them was delayed). The top piece shows the cherry tunnel in front of West Library; the second, lines of young cherry trees just planted last year in Ōtori Park; the third, weeping cherry in the same park; and fourth, Oshima cherry in Tsubosumire Park, Ōtoriminami-machi. While I walked looking at these cherry blossoms, the song entitled Sakura (Cherry blossoms) suddenly came into my mind.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In the near hills and mountains
As far as we can see.
Is it a mist or cloud?
Fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom.

You can listen to the melody of this song here (the above lyrics were also taken from that Web page).