Cherry Blossom Viewing 2017 / 花見 ２０１７年

After checking out the cherry blossoms at Ashino Park in Goshogawara, we then headed back to Aomori to pick up my mother-in-law from her place of employ. The three of us would check out the cherry blossoms in an area called Sakuragawa. Hirosaki Park may be the most famous and most popular place for cherry blossom viewing, but my wife had told me Sakuragawa is beautiful in its own way too.

五所川原の芦野公園の桜を見たあと、青森に向かった。義理の母を迎えに行って、青森の花見の名所、三人で行く予定。青森県の花見と言えば、やっぱり一番有名は弘前城がある弘前公園。でも僕の妻が青森市に素敵な場所もあるよと教えてくれた。

This is where my mother-in-law works. She works at the reception desk and sometimes gives a guide tour as well. This is the Memorial Ship Hakkoda Maru. It was a ferry that was used between Aomori and Hakodate. As she wasn't quite finished, I decided to walk around the area.

僕の義理の母はこの船に働いてます。受付の仕事とためにガイドもやってます。青森駅の近くにあるメモリアルシップ「八甲田丸」です。まだ仕事が終わってないため、船の周辺を歩いてみた。

As the following week would be Golden Week and one of the holidays is Children's Day, you could see the display of koi nobori known in English as carp streamers.

来週はゴールデンウィークで一つの祭日はこどもの日なので、船の上に鯉のぼりが見える。

I'm a big fan of public art, so I find myself taking pictures of all sorts of objects and art pieces.

個人的にパブリックアートが好きなので、ついいろんなオブジェや彫刻の写真を撮ります。

This sign says the clock tower was made with the image of a splashing wave.

I guess I can kind of see the image.

なんとなく波と飛沫のイメージがする。

A large propeller on display nearby too.

大きなプロペラも展示されてる。

No wait, here's another propeller.

待て、もう一つのプロペラを発見。

As I was wandering around, my mother-in-law finished work so I went back to the car and we drove to Sakuragawa.

義理の母が仕事終わって、自分も車に戻って、これから桜川を目指す。

Ah, you can see a cherry blossom tunnel in this area.

なるほど、この辺は桜のトンネルが見える場所だ。

My wife also told me she used to work near here at a dentist's office working as a receptionist.

妻が昔歯科の受付の仕事をこの場所で働いてた。

We stopped and parked along the street somewhere and walked around for a little bit.

道の片隅に車を駐車して、ちょっと歩き回りました。

We decided to check out the cherry blossoms at one more spot before heading home. We made a short detour to Gappo Park.

うちに帰る前にもう一箇所の桜を見に行った。それが合邦公園。

That's my wife and mother-in-law underneath the cherry blossom tree.

妻と義理の母が桜満開の木の下に立ってます。

Lots of food booths set up for the cherry blossom season.

花見の季節になると、合邦公園でいろんな屋台が出る。

Of course we will be checking out the cherry blossoms at Hirosaki Park but we're going to do that during Golden Week when a couple of our friends would be coming up to visit from Tokyo.

もちろん弘前公園の桜を見に行くんですが、それはゴールデンウィークの中。東京から友達が青森に来るから一緒に行く予定。