I visited Hanegi Park-Umegaoka and Gotokuji Temple in Setagaya to preview for a volunteer tour guide that I will be participating next week. There are about 60 varieties and 670 ume-plum or Japanese apricot trees planted on a small hill.

There are many different kinds of Japanese apricot trees, with brilliant scarlet, pink and pure white trees that point upwards or drooping, each with their own unique characteristics, and I never get bored of looking at them. It seems that the Japanese apricot trees are blooming a little late this year, but I still spent a relaxing early spring day watching Japanese white-eyes come to collect nectar from the early-blooming plum trees and seeing a slightly hazy view of Mt. Fuji beyond the plum branches.