I visited Osaka Prefecture and Expo Commemoration Park. The cherry blossoms, canola flowers, and tulips in the Japanese-style garden against the blue sky were beautiful in spring colors, and everyone visiting seemed to be having a great time. The Tower of the Sun also shouted, 'Art is an explosion!' (I don't really know though...)

Kijozetsukyo Gorge in Tanabe City is known locally as a famous spot for cherry blossoms. In the rain, I drove along the gorge hoping to photograph the lingering cherry blossoms entwined with rising mist. I shot in the rain, and I believe I encountered the scenery I had hoped for.

The Mongolian Folk Museum, with its larger-than-life mounted Mongol Warrior outside, is one of the surprises of the Sea of Japan coast. Inside, visitors can go inside yurts that accurately recreate nomadic life, see a variety of historical artifacts, and even try on Mongolian folk clothing inspired costumes. It is fun to have your picture taken wearing exotic and luxurious feeling clothing, and the pictures make for good memories! Hands-on activities, such as playing nomad instruments, are also available. Children may especially enjoy crafting a toy sheep out of Mongolian wool. They look like adorable little puffs! A reading corner featuring children's books with a Mongolian setting is also available. Adults may get more enjoyment out of the displays of weapons and historical insights, but there are cute crafts available as souvenirs that anyone can enjoy. Interestingly, the museum also has a look at the region's own local history, offering insight into daily life for the average resident, as well as a broader look at the region's history as a hub of silk manufacturing and its subsequent decline. The collapse of the silk industry and the attendant emigration from the Sea of Japan coast is a seldom-told story, and finding it in a Mongolian Folk History Museum is a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

The Great Cherry Blossom Buddha at Tsubosaka-dera Temple It was a day of on-and-off rain, but I enjoyed the cherry trees in full bloom. The cherry blossoms looked beautiful lit up at night. At Tsubosaka-dera Temple, there was a temporary observation platform—apparently only for this season—that let visitors enjoy views of the Cherry Blossom Buddha. I’m grateful for it. This year, the parking lot required a full reservation in advance.

I gave up on the famous cherry blossom spot a ten-minute drive away because its parking lot was full, so I took photos along an ordinary roadside on the way back home. In Japan, spring means cherry trees line the streets everywhere, not just at famous sites.

🌈A music event at Daisen Park will take place 🎤 Many food trucks and more will be on site✨ 〈World Heritage Mozu Tombs DAISEN MUSIC FESTIVAL〉 Saturday, April 18, 2026 — DANCE & LIVE lineup Sunday, April 19, 2026 — ARTIST LIVE lineup ⏰11:00 (OPEN) to 19:00 (CLOSE) 📍Large Lawn, Daisen Park (2 Mozu Sekiun‑chō, Sakai Ward, Sakai City) 💰Free admission (some food and drinks charged) For details ➡ @daisen_music_festival

The cherry blossoms on the Hirasogen Plain in Shirahamacho, Wakayama Prefecture are in full bloom. The full moonlight revealed the blossoms, making them appear to float.

From Saturday, April 4th✨ Special Exhibition “Life with Mucha”🌈 Focusing on the home, the most familiar space, this exhibition shows how Mucha turned everyday domestic moments into something special. Please enjoy the world of Mucha’s beauty breathing through daily life🌸 Dates and Hours: Saturday, April 4th – Sunday, July 26th, 9:30 AM–5:15 PM (last admission 4:30 PM) 📍Sakai Alphonse Mucha Museum (sakai municipal cultural hall) (@sakai_alphonse_mucha_museum ) 🔍Search “Sakai Alphonse Mucha Museum” for more details! 🔗 https://mucha.sakai-bunshin.com/event/mucha2026ex1/... https://mucha.sakai-bunshin.com/event/mucha2026ex1/...

https://www.sakaihamono.or.jp/matsuri/index.html... Sakai Knife Festival 2026 is coming🔪✨🌸 Two days to experience traditional craftsmanship❕ Exhibitions and direct sales of kitchen knives and gardening shears, sharpening services, traditional forging demonstrations and signature engraving by artisans, and many must-see highlights👀 🍎 We will also hold an apple-peeling contest and cooking shows🍳🥬 With a kids’ plaza and the Sakai Hare-no-Hi Marche, there are plenty of activities for both adults and children to enjoy🍞🍿 📅 Date and time: Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, 10:00–16:00 📍 Venue: Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center Event Hall 🎫 Free admission ※ Parking is limited, and the parking lot and surrounding roads will be crowded, so please use public transportation if possible🚉 🔍 For details, search “Sakai Knife Festival”！ 🔗 [Official site URL] https://www.sakaihamono.or.jp/matsuri/index.html...

Near Chikatsuyu Oji Shrine on the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Route stands the Naganose Family, whose lineage dates back to the Nanboku-chō period. In the old family garden there is a weeping cherry tree that the 19th head of the family, Rokuro Kasamori Nonagase, brought from Gion in Kyoto and planted in April 1747. It rained this morning, but I photographed the tree, which is now about 60–70 percent in bloom. If you walk the Kumano Kodo Nakahechi Course, be sure to see this magnificent weeping cherry. I think it will probably be in full bloom around this weekend.

Expo Memorial Park Senri Banpaku Park, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture Tower of the Sun The park’s symbol, designed by the artist Taro Okamoto. The interior of the Tower of the Sun has been open to the public since March 19, 2018, and visits are still possible now (reservations recommended). Natural and Cultural Gardens · Japanese-style garden Enjoy seasonal flowers throughout the year. A free public Wi‑Fi service, Osaka Free Wi‑Fi, is available. Expo '70 Pavilion Exhibits materials from the 1970 Osaka Expo. National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) A research institute for ethnology and cultural anthropology. It exhibits and opens information on the societies and cultures of peoples around the world. The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Osaka A facility that inherited the Japan Folk Crafts Museum exhibited at the Japan World Exposition. It displays crafts such as ceramics and textiles from Japan and abroad. State Guest House During the Japan World Exposition it served to entertain distinguished guests. It is now used for various meetings, banquets, and exhibitions.

Awaji Hanasajiki on Awaji Island. Golden rapeseed flowers, the blue Osaka Bay, and a slightly hazy sky. It's already a spring landscape.

“Petals Drift on a Spring Voyage” Fushimi, Kyoto, Ujikawa River Diversion Canal. As petals scatter across the emerald-green surface, a Jikkokubune boat moves slowly. Passengers in kimono gaze at the spring scenery while cherry branches arch over the boat, creating a spring scene unique to Fushimi.

"Spring River, Boats Drifting" Fushimi, Kyoto — a tributary of the Uji River. As cherry trees bloom to cover the water with a canopy of blossoms, a jukkoku-bune (traditional flat-bottomed boat) glides slowly along. On the banks, people savor spring in their own ways, and lantern-lit boats sway as they slip quietly into a tunnel of flowers.

“Cherry Blossoms and Rapeseed Flowers: A Spring Duel” Fushimi in Kyoto, the Uji River branch. Full-bloom cherry trees arch overhead while bright yellow rapeseed flowers flourish at your feet, their colors competing vividly. Beyond the clear blue canal, the boarding point for the Jukkoku-bune boats sits quietly, and the tunnel of cherry blossoms continued into the spring light.

“Sakura Corridor, Spring River” Kyoto – Fushimi, the Uji River branch. Cherry trees in full bloom lean over from both banks and stretch their branches toward the water, forming a pale pink corridor. New willow leaves tremble in the spring breeze as a person in kimono pauses quietly. Boats called jukkoku-bune ply this canal, filling it with the essence of Kyoto’s spring.

"A Sanctuary Perfumed with Plum Blossoms" Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto. Amid the moss‑covered branches of an ancient plum tree, red and white flowers vie for attention as shrine priests in white robes move quietly through the grounds. The plum trees loved by Sugawara no Michizane, the kami of scholarship, once again color the precincts this year, standing dignified and fragrant even under a cloudy sky.

“An Afternoon in the Plum Garden” The plum garden at Suishinin Temple in Kyoto. On a spring afternoon, bright red field umbrellas glow against the scene as fully bloomed red plums spread their branches toward the blue sky. At the ancient temple associated with Ono no Komachi, spring has returned unchanged again this year. The backs of people holding parasols quietly blend into this gentle moment.

“Plum Reflections of Silence” — Spring at Umegomiya Taisha Shrine’s Sacred Garden — In the sacred garden of Umegomiya Taisha Shrine, an ancient stone bridge stands quietly over the pond as blooming plum trees melt into the water’s surface. Pink and purple blossoms sway in the reflective water, where the springtime of Kyo gently comes to life.

🌷Special Exhibition “Memories of the Showa Era”🌷 ✨Celebrate 100 years of Showa by feeling Showa-era Sakai!!🌟 🌷Enjoy the special exhibition “Memories of the Showa Era” and the Museum Restart Thanks Event!!🌷 🌸Take a time slip to the Showa era in Sakai and savor spring with a packed schedule of events! 📅 Exhibition Period: April 1 (Wednesday) – June 14 (Sunday), 9:30–17:15 (last admission at 16:30) The Thanks Event runs April 1 (Wednesday)–April 5 (Sunday) 📍 Location: Sakai City Museum in Daisen Park 🔍 For details, search “Sakai City Museum”! 🔗 https://www.city.sakai.lg.jp/kanko/hakubutsukan/exhibition/kikaku_tokubetsu/... syowakioku.html

📣 World Heritage Balloon Shuttle Bus Service Begins! 🚌✨ 📍Free sightseeing bus touring Sakai, the World Heritage town with a gas balloon 🎉 From Friday, March 20, you can easily hop between Daisen Park, where a gas balloon offers sweeping views of the Mozu Kofun Group World Heritage site, Sakai Risho no Mori, which exhibits items related to Sen no Rikyu and Akiko Yosano, and Old Sakai Port, a famous sunset spot! 👀 Make sightseeing in Sakai freer and more comfortable. Please take advantage of this service💕 ■ Service period: Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays from March 20, 2026 to March 31, 2027 ■ Operating hours: 9:00–18:00 (about one round trip per hour, eight trips per day) ■ Stops: ① Sakai Old Port Porto Mare (Dorsett by Agora Osaka Sakai) ② Sakai Risho no Mori ③ Mozu Kofun Group Visitor Center ■ Fare: Free From March 20 to 22, the loop-style event Himo Tokeba Sakai 2026 – OSAKA SAKAI EXPO – will be held, letting you experience the charms of Sakai. On the 20th, MYAKU-MYAKU will also appear in Daisen Park. Why not ride the shuttle bus and easily visit experience programs, gourmet food, and the stamp rally? 🚩 For information about Himo Tokeba Sakai, visit this URL 🔗 https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435... 🔍 For details, search for "World Heritage Balloon Shuttle Bus"! 🔗 https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/feature/detail/106...

From Hirakiso Plateau, a popular resting spot for Shirahamacho residents, you can see the Milky Way; the large red star is Antares in Scorpius. Its diameter is about 700 to 800 times that of the Sun, and it lies roughly 550 to 600 light-years from Earth. That means the light we see now left the star 550 to 600 years ago. Hirakiso Plateau is dotted with many cherry trees, and soon it will bustle with crowds enjoying the blossoms.

#Unraveling Sakai: Ohtori Taisha Main Hall One‑Lap Guided Tour⛩️✨ Usually you can only worship the main hall from the front, but this time you can view it from the sides and even from the rear… Join a rare guided tour that lets you walk all the way around the main hall while offering prayers! This is a luxurious chance to hear a direct explanation from the gonnengi (senior shrine assistant) about the main hall and the sacred gate, which were newly designated tangible cultural properties by Sakai City in April 2025. After feeling the weight of history up close, you will receive a tour‑exclusive “seasonal goshuin” (seal) 🌸 Spend a special moment in the serene atmosphere of the sacred precincts. 📅 Dates and times: ・Friday, March 20 — 11:00 AM ・Saturday, March 21 — 2:00 PM 📍 Meeting place: Ohtori Taisha Ema‑do Hall 💰 Participation fee: ¥1,500 (includes the seasonal goshuin; cash only) ✅ No reservation required (about 30 people per session; first come, first served on the day) 🔍For details, search “Unraveling Sakai 2026”! 🔗https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

Untying Sakai — Discover Even More: A “Shinto Ritual × Sumo” Tour Experience 🤼‍♂️⛩️ Did you know about the deep ties between shrines and sumo? Join a guide as we unravel how every sumo ritual—from the shiko leg stamps to the sonkyo squat—connects with Shinto ceremonies. On the day, you’ll also get to tour a training area that’s usually off-limits! ✨ (This is not an observation of live practice, but you will feel the atmosphere of the dohyo up close.) All participants receive a goshuin shrine stamp and a sumo ranking banzuke that fans will love! 🎁 For two days only, official merchandise from the Osaka Spring Tournament will also be on sale. 📅 Date and time: ・Friday, March 20 (holiday) 2:00 PM ・Saturday, March 21 11:00 AM 📍 Meeting place: Ohtori Taisha Ema-do Hall 💰 Fee: 1,500 yen (includes goshuin and banzuke — cash only) ✅ No reservation required (about 30 people per session, first-come, first-served) 🔍 For details, search “Untying Sakai 2026”! 🔗https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

#Unraveling Sakai: Try Traditional Techniques! Wagashi Making Experience🍡 Learn authentic wagashi (nerikiri) making from Sakai artisans. Handcraft two confections: one seasonal wagashi and one inspired by the Expo. Take your freshly made sweets home. Why not create your own little work of art? Children are very welcome to join! 📅 Date and time: Friday, March 20 (national holiday), and Sunday, March 22 ⏰ Sessions: 1) 13:00– / 2) 14:30– (about 60 minutes each) 👨‍🍳 Instructors: ・March 20: Mr. Maeda, Sakai Hosen Confectionery Shop ・March 22: Mr. Takada, Hamadera Soka An Minoya 📍 Location: Sakai Risho no Mori lecture room 💰 Fee: 500 yen (cash only) ✅ No reservation required (10–15 participants per session, first-come, first-served on the day) ※ Children below third grade in elementary school must be accompanied by a guardian 🔍 For details, search for "Unraveling Sakai 2026"! 🔗https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

Himo Tokeba Sakai: Tsuruya Musical Instruments Shamisen Performance 🪕✨ Experience again the thrill that wowed audiences on the stage of the Osaka-Kansai Expo! Tsuruya Musical Instruments (@tsuruya_music_instruments) presents a breathtaking shamisen performance at three locations around the city. Enjoy traditional tones and a unique performance honed on the global stage of the Expo. Savor resonant music and lively conversation set against the charm of each venue. We’ll bring you a luxurious moment in special spaces, from a historic tea room to an observation lobby overlooking Sakai. 📅 Dates and times: March 20 (Fri, public holiday)–March 22 (Sun) 📍 Venues: ・sakai city tea room shin-an ・Sakai Risho no Mori ・MI-TE Sakai (Sakai City Hall 21st Floor Observation Lobby) *Times and venues vary by day. 💰 Admission: Free (*Performances at shin-an and Risho no Mori take place during tea sittings; a separate tea service fee applies.) ⏰ Program: Performance & talk (about 20 minutes each; three shows per day) 🔍 Search “Himo Tokeba Sakai 2026” for more details! 🔗 Check the special site via the link in the profile https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

Unraveling Sakai SAKAI EXPO Stamp Rally is here!🌸 The official pavilion stamps are coming to Sakai!✨ Bring the limited "Stamp Passport" and explore Sakai in spring. Collect five or more eligible stamps to receive an exclusive "MyakuMyaku × Haniwa-Bucho" collaboration pin badge you can only get here!🎁 (Conditions apply, limited quantities) Enjoy a special month in Sakai filled with EXPO excitement. Stamp availability varies by location, so please check the special site before you go🔍 📅 Period: Sunday, March 1 – Tuesday, March 31 📍 Stamp locations: Sakai Risho no Mori, Moz Kofun Group Visitor Center and 10 sites across the City Area 💰 Participation fee: Free (some facilities require an admission fee) ✅ For pin badge pickup conditions and details… Be sure to check the profile link for "Unraveling Sakai 2026"! https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

Untie the String, Sakai — Touch the Sand of the Jordan Pavilion🏜️✨ Relive memories of Expo! This is a rare chance to feel a desert landscape on your skin. The “Wadi Rum Sand” that was displayed at the Jordan Pavilion of Expo Osaka, Kansai is now in Sakai!🏜️ This special opportunity lets you actually touch sand delivered from the distant Middle Eastern land of Jordan. Feel the world’s breeze that the Expo connected through the silky texture of the sand. 📅 Date and time: Friday, March 20th (public holiday)–Sunday, March 22nd, 10:00–17:00 📍 Location: Mozu Kofun Group Visitor Center 💰 Admission: Free ✅ No reservation required (first come, first served on the day) 🔍 For details, search “Untie the String Sakai 2026”! 🔗https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

Untie the Strings, Discover Sakai — Experience the Tombs in Minecraft 🎮⛰️ — The hands-on event that was a big hit at the Osaka-Kansai Expo is coming to town! — Would you like to explore the charms of the World Heritage Mozu Tombs through the hugely popular game Minecraft?✨ Wander the kofun world inside Minecraft or build your own original tombs... This special event lets you enjoyably learn about the scale and mysteries of kofun through gameplay! It’s perfect for children and Minecraft fans alike — don’t miss this chance to dive into the world of kofun. 📅 Date and time: March 20 (Fri, public holiday)–22 (Sun), 10:00–17:00 📍 Location: Mozu Kofun Tumuli Visitor Center 💰 Admission: Free ✅ No reservation required (walk-in; two people per session, first-come-first-served on the day / 10 minutes per person) 🔍 For details, search “Untie the Strings, Discover Sakai 2026”! 🔗https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/news/detail/20251217133435...

These are the Hashigui-iwa Rocks, a natural monument in Kushimotocho, Wakayama Prefecture. Long ago, Kobo Daishi and an amanojaku made a bet over whether they could build a bridge from Kushimoto to an offshore island before the rooster crowed. Just as Kobo Daishi had nearly finished setting the bridge’s piles, the amanojaku feared losing, imitated a rooster, and tricked Kobo Daishi into thinking morning had come. Kobo Daishi gave up and left the partly built bridge behind. That is why only the bridge’s piles are said to remain, according to the legend. What do you suppose Kobo Daishi and the amanojaku wagered? These Hashigui-iwa Rocks are also selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Sunrises.