こんにちは、みんなさん！J here for J Beauty Journal blog! I know it has been a while since I last wrote a proper blog post but here I am, making a Spring comeback!
Last year, one of the spring blossoms I missed to observe was the wisteria flower. Originally, I wanted to go to KitaKyushu and check-out the wisteria tunnel. Its picture was shared multiple times on my social media feed and my friends kept tagging me online. At that time, the Wisteria season was already over.
The famous Wisteria Tunnel is in Kawachi Fuji garden which is a 13-hour drive from here. Just kidding, we have to take the plane and maybe a little more planning in the future.
Hence, we drove to Kameido Tenjin Shrine and see the flowers. You can also get there by train, nearest stations are Kinshicho or Kameido. Oh, I should probably mention that there are several Japanese Gardens scattered all over Tokyo with a wisteria orchard. In fact, one of the tiny parks here in Katsushika have some wisteria blossoms already. This actually reminded me to go to an actual Wisteria Garden and write a blog about it.
It was the first day of the Fuji Matsuri or the Wisteria Festival and the flowers are just starting to blossom – so was the crowd. Both K and I were shocked that even though it is not in full bloom the smell was strong enough for us to enjoy it.
We witnessed a small taiko drum performance and the Japanese Lion Dance. According to K, the Lion dances on stage to scare the children. After the performance, they will announce that the Lion will go down and eat the children’s heads! LMAO.
Anyway, they call the lion dance here as “Shishi-Mai” 獅子舞 which originated from China. From what I read online, they do this to attract good fortune and having the lion bite your head may give you good luck. For the children, they say, is to make them smarter and stronger. K’s version somehow makes sense now, LOL.
There’s also the Japanese Azalea Festival at the Nezu shrine, they call it Tsustuji matsuri つつじ祭り. However, we did not enter the shrine anymore because there were a lot of people compared to Kameido Tenjin Shrine.
Plus, azaleas are everywhere right now, especially in our town.
That’s it for today’s blog みんなさん！ブログを読んでくれてありがとうございました！
次の記事をお楽しみに！
