Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms brighten up 2023
I returned to the Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms in 2023. That was a break of nearly five years! It was a long time. Far more than expected. Well, the pandemic accounted for three of them. And the other two? Well, I got caught up photographing other places. Anyway, it was good to be back.
Earlier that day, I had been to Yoyogi Park to see its trees. They were excellent and the weather was good. At Shinjuku Gyoen, the sky was grey. You could tell it was going to rain sooner or later. Lucky for me, it was later. As the park is a ten-minute walk from Shinjuku station, I was a little worried.
Even though I went on a weekday, it was crowded. I saw people and heard languages from all over the world. They didn’t seem worried about the weather. All they wanted to do was look at the trees and take pictures of them.
The 2023 Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms were great. They were on par with the ones I saw in 2018 and that means they must have been good! I don’t think there is more to say. Hopefully, the pictures speak for themselves. The only thing missing was some blue sky.
So even though conditions weren’t perfect, the cherry blossoms brightened Shinjuku Gyoen. In hindsight, I should have spent more time there. Who knows what the skies will be like in 2024? It might rain nonstop for a week. Making any prediction about the weather is difficult. Even the professionals get it wrong.
Did you see any of Tokyo’s cherry blossoms in 2023? If you did, what did you think? The weather was bad for that season, but such is life. Leave questions and comments below.
Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms 2023 photo gear:
- Camera body: Fujifilm X-T3
- Lens: Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
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