It is impossible not to think pink in Tokyo.
The post Travel Diaries: Tokyo Talk appeared first on Vicki Archer.

It is impossible not to think pink in Tokyo.
At least in springtime.

It would seem to me everything is tinged with pink and all roads lead to cherry blossom .
I had not fully understood how important the cherry blossom is to the Japanese; it is a punctuation mark, a celebration of the new season and new beginnings. These trees are cause for festivities and the Japanese people take great pleasure in spending their leisure time amongst them.

I expected to be enchanted by their sheer beauty but I had not expected the cherry blossom to be number one tourist attraction in the city. They are revered and worshipped in a lovely way; locals dress up in traditional costume to be photographed in front of the trees and take picnics to enjoy in the gardens and parks underneath the blossoms. I imagined it would be the foreigners vying for a place beneath the powder puff canopy but no, it is the Japanese people who queue for hours for a glimpse of their national treasure.
Have we got our perfect cherry blossom photographs"
Not yet, I have found it impossible to master the shot but I am not giving up.

Tokyo is a city of gargantuan proportions and for me a city of sharp contrasts; a metropolis full of surprises. I am reminded a little of New York with a dose of Hong Kong and a pi...