Cherry blossoms in Fukuoka

A friend recently mentioned on Twitter how much she loves seeing cherry blossoms against a blue sky. It is really impossible to argue against that, and I thought it would be a nice way to resume my participation in Skywatch Friday.

I have been in Fukuoka for almost a week, and cherry trees around the city were kind enough to start blooming just before I leave, (I am going to Osaka tomorrow). Obviously, I could not resist the urge to stroll around the city's parks and take a few photos. I hope you will like them!
As usual, you can click on the pictures to access larger versions.

 

Osaka-based sakura are apparently a little behind schedule, but I should still be able to see some more blossoms before I am gone.

 

And if I am very lucky, (I am here for work and my schedule is very busy), I might even be able to enjoy a hanami with friends!

As always, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

A fine day on lake Biwa

This week ended up being a lot busier than I expected, so here is a photo from the archive. It was taken this summer while we were cycling around lake Biwa for our fundraising project. If you are not familiar with this project, you can have a look at the Project Biwa label on the right.

As always, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

A quick look at Ena-kyo

I am away from the country at the moment, but here is a picture I shot last week while I was on a trip in Gifu prefecture with my colleagues. It was my first time in this valley, and the weather made it a very enjoyable time. To know more about Ena-kyo, you can have a look at this website.

As always, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

Desert sky

Another very busy week, so here is shot from the archives for this week's Skywatch Friday. All the way from 2006, here are some pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
The picture is not perfect, but I think it conveys very well the heat of that day!

As always, once you are done with this post, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

A typhoon is coming

As you may have seen in the news (or experienced yourself if you live in Western Japan), a typhoon is on its way, and currently affecting the region. We are supposed to feel the most of its power overnight and tomorrow but as you can see from this photo, today's weather was already quite stormy.

The wind is expected to pick up, but it already had quite an impact.

 

It will also be interesting to see exactly how much rain we get. Osaka prefecture is in alert for high precipitations, but so far escaped with relatively little rain. Some parts of neighbouring Nara prefecture, on the other hand, already received over 700mm (27.5 inches) since yesterday!

As always, once you are done with this post, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

Another view of lake Biwa

This week has also been extremely busy so I am going to cover two topics with this single post.

Of course today is Friday, so we are going to look at the sky, but this week's sky is not just any photo. It is lake Biwa, seen from the North, and the photo was taken during our 300km bicycle ride for Project Biwa.

As you can see on this photo, there were times during the ride when the weather was very enjoyable. However, you may remember from an earlier Skywatch post that this was not always true.

The main consequence from this changing weather is that some photos clearly do not do any justice to the places we cycled through. To fix this, a second visit to lake Biwa will be required. This will be a one-day trip (by train), and will occur as soon as possible, (probably in September).
Keep an eye on this blog for further updates.

As always, once you are done with this post, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

Fireworks anticipation

Friday is here again, so it is time to look up and watch the sky. This week, we are sitting on the banks of the Yodogawa river, just North of Umeda.

Every August, this is the background for one of Osaka's largest fireworks events, the Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Display (なにわ淀川花火大会). It is a very popular event and, unless you are willing to pay to get into the stands or the cruise boat, you really have to arrive early in order to claim a good spot along the river.

The upside to this is that, once you are set, you can enjoy the nice Umeda skyline while eating and drinking what you just bought at one of the many stalls along the way.

As there is no summer time in Japan, evening are fairly short, and you do not have to wait too long before the skies become darker.

I hope you enjoyed these photos. I obviously took plenty of pictures once the fireworks started. I have not had time to upload them yet but, in the meantime, you can enjoy some of them in the slideshow video I have prepared.

As always, you can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website. Have a good week-end everyone!

Skies

If you have been following our ride around lake Biwa live on Twitter or Facebook, you know that the weather was not always ideal.

We had a few showers, and there were some fairly large clouds such as the one below. Overall, it was still mostly OK, and after a first look at the pictures, I am fairly happy with what we brought back. More on this over coming weeks.

With this post, I would like to revive an old series on skies, that I started just over two and a half years ago, (see for instance this first post, or this one).

To make sure I keep this series going, I was searching for a nice motivation, and found exactly that. On a blog that I am closely following (Shinjuku Daily Photo), Kaori takes part in a weekly meme called Skywatch Friday, (which involves posting sky photos on Fridays, obviously!). Here is, for instance, the lovely evening sky she posted last week: Quiet Evening.

This is a very nice way to make sure I remember to post these sky pictures regularly.

You can have a look at sky photos from all over the world on the Skywatch Friday website, and you can look forward to my next sky photo next Friday. Have a good week-end everyone!

Fallen blossoms

The Sakura season is almost over, here in Kansai. Do not worry though. With all the photos I have taken lately, I still have a few Sakura-flavoured posts to prepare.

In the meantime, here is what it starts to look like. Still quite nice, if you ask me.

Sakura update - Full bloom

The reference Sakura tree, that I have been following all week, is now in full bloom. For previous updates, please have a look here:

• March 28th


• March 29th


• March 30th


• March 31st


• April 1st

This will not last long, so we should try to make the most of it over the coming days.

Sakura in the rain

As you know, I love cherry blossoms. As I was walking in Kyoto this morning (see my previous post), I had the opportunity to try a nice combination: Sakura and rain.

I absolutely love the result!
What do you think?

Sakura update - Blooming on April 1st!

Finally, my reference Sakura tree, that I have been following all week, has bloomed!
I have to say it is good timing, as I would have been disappointing to miss it, if it had happened during the week-end. Now that it has started to bloom, I do not have to worry about daily updates, and can wait until Monday to start looking for full bloom.

 

Speaking of full bloom, the more precocious tree I showed you on Wednesday is almost there. How lovely!

 

I am going to Osaka castle and to Kyoto this week-end, so you can expect this blog to be in full bloom as well next week!

Sakura update - March 31st

Another day, another quick update. Same Sakura tree, same buds, but a little progress since yesterday.

 

Come on, cherry tree, you can do it!