Sakura

I cannot think of cherry blossom trees without thinking of Japan. Although I've never been there, I've seen gorgeous pictures taken during Japan's sakura season. I'm always enchanted when I see those kinds of pictures, as if I'm seeing images of a magical world. The Polaroid photo above was not taken in Japan but near where I live (taken during spring of last year). We have cherry blossom trees around here locally, but not in quantities nor in varieties that are seen in places in Japan.

According to my Japanese dictionary, the kanji for sakura (さくら) is 桜, and the kanji for cherry blossoms is 桜花 (おうか). The kanji for cherry-blossom season is 桜時 (さくらじ).