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The pure, gentle beauty of cherry blossoms often reminds many of cherry blossoms, even leading to confusion.
The pure, gentle beauty of cherry blossoms often reminds many of cherry blossoms, even leading to confusion.
Towards the end of winter, around mid-February, there is a period of low temperatures and quite cold weather. Then the weather gradually warms up and many species of flowers begin to bloom, creating a delightful feeling. Cherry blossoms, or plum blossoms in Japan, called Ume, are among the earliest blooming flowers with vivid colors.
Cherry blossoms are often compared to sakura for their beauty. Many people admire sakura, however, I prefer cherry blossoms for their rustic and somewhat rugged charm.
Interestingly, many foreigners, including long-time residents in Japan, still confuse cherry blossoms with sakura. This confusion even occurs with a few Japanese people.
Cherry blossoms typically bloom from late March to early April, but sometimes cherry blossoms can still be observed during this time, causing confusion because they are quite similar in color and flower structure.
There are many ways to distinguish cherry blossoms and sakura, but I usually differentiate based on two characteristics: the shape of the petals and the position of the flowers on the branches.
In cherry blossoms, the petals are uniformly round without any gaps and the flowers are attached directly to the branches, whereas in cherry blossoms, the petals are elongated ovals, indented at the tip, and each flower has a long stem attached to the branches. Additionally, cherry blossom trees have many horizontal lines of bark on their trunks.
Apart from enjoying the beauty of the flowers, the Japanese also use cherry fruits to make a specialty called Umeboshi or salted plums. With its sour, salty taste and fragrant aroma infused with shiso leaves (perilla), Umeboshi is often eaten with rice.
The cherry blossom blooming season is also the time when Japan holds flower-viewing festivals, usually lasting until the end of March.
Some famous cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan include Kairakuen (Ibaraki prefecture), Inabeshi nougyo koen, Akatsuka no mori teien (Mie prefecture), Jonangu (Kyoto). Additionally, you can also admire cherry blossoms at Kintaikyo Bridge (Yamaguchi prefecture) or in Osaka city.
Posted by: Trần Thị Kim Lanh
Keywords: Enchanted by the beauty of cherry blossoms in bloom
