Nagano, home town for cherry blossom

Spring has finally came to State College! Now, it’s time to pack our winter clothes and bring out our lovely dresses. When I think about spring, I imagine flowers right away, especially cherry blossom. My favorite type of bath and body works lotion is cherry blossom since I first used its product.

    Sometimes, I wonder where cherry blossom originated and today I will introduce the city Nagano from Japan, where cherry blossom came from. In Japan, cherry blossoms are called sakura.

    Nagano has almost every kind of spring blossoms and flowers. In Nagano, known as Takato Castle Ruins Park, many people visit to witness the showering of flower petals. Takato Castle Ruins Park is located on the southeastern Nagano Prefecture and almost 1500 cherry trees are planted. This place became extremely popular site for view cherry blossom to many visitors and today, it is crowded with thousands of people strolling around. Usually, cherry blossoms are illuminated in the evenings from April through early May.

    Not all cherry trees are the same. They slightly have different colors of petals, some are redder than the others. With every gust of wind, the blossoms begin to fall and create flower blizzards.

    Even though my focus for this week’s passion blog is about flowers, Nagano has so many other places to go for preparing spring. Matsumoto Castle is one place I would recommend visiting because it is one of the most complete and beautiful Japanese original castles. Also, there are about 300 cherry trees planted around the castle grounds so you won’t miss the flowers.

    Next places I would go are Alps Park and Shiroyama Park. They are both located on the hills overlooking Matsumoto castle and there are about 1800 cherry trees planted. Both parks contain barbecue areas and several walking paths that lead through cherry groves.

    After touring Nagano city, or any cities around the world, we need to eat delicious local foods. In Nagano, oyaki is the one food you must try out. Oyaki is Japanese Tacos and it is favorite home dish of Nagano and you can make your own variations.

    Nagano is also known for its Shinano soba. Many people think of ramen as Japanese’s traditional noodle dish but many asians prefer soba because it is made up of more healthy products.

    I think Nagano is the perfect place to go for food, views, flowers, history, etc. Everywhere, this city is surrounded by cherry trees and people from different countries to appreciate the distinct culture. It is sad that I never had a chance to visit Japan even though it is located right next to Korea. It is true that we miss out places that are close to us. Now it is far away from where I live, but I would love to visit Japan next time when I visit Korea.