Today is June 3. It is already summer. The last time I posted a blog was in February. How lazy I am! I apologize to all those who participated in the cherry blossom viewing walk.
On April 3, we had our annual cherry blossom viewing party at Ueno Park. However, due to the Corona disaster, banquets were prohibited both last year and this year. So we decided to take a hanami walk. Last year, Mr. Lin and I happened to walk around Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms, and it was unexpectedly wonderful, so we decided to invite everyone to join us.
This year, the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park are expected to be in full bloom on Wednesday, March 30. The weekend close to this is forecasted to be completely rainy. So we decided to do it on Sunday, April 3.
Friday,April 1, I took a preliminary inspection of the course by bicycle. Last year, we walked from Ueno Park to Nippori Station via Yanaka Cemetery and took the Yamanote Line back to Ueno Station, but this time we decided to go in the opposite direction. The reason why I decided to do so is because I made a small discovery.
When I took a preliminary inspection, I arrived at the north end of Yanaka Cemetery and turned back the way I had just come,I saw more cherry trees than I had seen on my way in. Because it was a gentle downhill on the way back. I noticed that the line of sight when going up tends to be lower, but the field of vision when going down is wider.
On the day,It rained all day. The cherry petals dancing in the wind were beautiful, but I was a little worried about the amount of blossoms, so we decided to take a "cherry blossom blowing snow walk" to enjoy the snowstorm in Ueno Park.
Unlike usual members, many of us met for the first time this time: three graduate students studying IT in Japan, a medical graduate student, Mr. O, who also joined for the first time, an elementary school teacher, Ms. I, Mr. K from Dubai, whom I introduced in this blog before, Ms. K, a local English teacher who is making efforts for disaster prevention, and myself.
We met at 12:30 p.m. in front of the central ticket gate in JR Ueno station. First, we took a train from Ueno Station to Nippori Station.
Despite the rain, there were quite a few visitors at Yanaka Cemetery. As expected, there are graves of historical people in Yanaka Cemetery, including that of Eiichi Shibusawa.
The cafe at Sakura Jyoen, which I visited last year, was reserved, but we all visited the building grave.
The cherry blossoms at Kan'eiji Temple were almost all gone.
After that, we intended to take a break at the International Library of Children's Literature, but they were handing out numbered tickets only during this season. But we were able to take a break without waiting. From there, I looked for restaurants around Ueno where we could all eat together with my cell phone, but they were all full and we could not get a seat. We had underestimated that the weather would be rainy, but the crowds around Ueno Station were unbelievable. We were about to give up on eating together when Ms. K, a local English teacher who joined us later, suggested Denny's in Nezu. We had forgotten that Denny's existed even though it was nearby, so we quickly moved from Ueno Park to Nezu, arriving there in less than 10 minutes, and all 8 of us were soon seated and eating, as Denny's is not used by tourists.
As one would expect from a local disaster prevention expert! After that, we went back to Ueno Park and visited Shinobazu no Ike (Shinobazu Pond) before we disbanded.
Thank you everyone for your hard work. It was an unforgettable hanami.
Around this time, there were many big changes in my surroundings.
First of all, my job description changed drastically: my official duties, which had been five days a week until March, were reduced to two days a week from April. Then I resumed full-fledged freelance work as an illustrator five days a week.
And the biggest incident for me was that I developed lumbar spinal stenosis. The diagnosis was that I might need to have surgery at a university hospital. In the end, I decided to forego surgery and do exercise therapy. I found a good acupuncturist in my neighborhood and so far I am recovering well. I can't walk long distances, but I can ride my bicycle with no problem, so let's have an outdoor lunch at Ueno Park together again.
今日は6月3日です。もう夏です。前回のブログアップは2月でした。なんと私は怠け者なのか。お花見散歩にご参加いただいた皆様ごめんなさい。
4月3日には恒例の上野公園のお花見を行いました。 と言っても昨年も今年もコロナ禍により宴会は禁止。そこで考えたのはお花見散歩。昨年林君とたまたま歩いてみた上野公園のお花見でしたが思いのほか素晴らしかったのでみんなを誘ってみました。
今年の上野公園の桜開花予想日は3/24(木)、満開予想日は3/30(水)。これに近い週末は完全に雨予報。そこで4月3日日曜日に行うことにしました。そして金曜日には自転車でコースを下見。昨年は上野公園から谷中霊園を経由して日暮里駅まで歩き山手線で上野駅まで戻るコースでしたが今回は逆に回ることにしました。何故そうしたかというと小さな発見があったからです。
自転車での下見の際、谷中霊園の北の端まで着いて、今来た道を折り返した時です、来た時よりもたくさんの桜が視界に入ってきました。何故なら帰りは緩い下り坂だったからです。登りの視線は下になりがちですが少しでも下に向かう時は視界が広がることに気づいたのでした。
当日は終日雨となりました。風に舞う桜の花びらは美しいけれど花量がちょっと心配だったので花吹雪を堪能する「上野公園花吹雪散歩」ということにしました。
今回はいつものメンバーと異なり初めて会う人が多くなりました。ITの勉強のため日本に留学している大学院生が３名、同じく初参加の医科学系大学院生のOくん、小学校教員のIさん、以前このブログでも紹介したドバイから来たKくん、地元の英会話講師で防災に尽力されているKさん、そして私の計8名。
集合はJR上野の駅構内、中央改札前12時半。 まずは上野駅から電車で日暮里駅へ。
谷中霊園では雨にも関わらすお客さんが結構いました。さすが谷中霊園の中には歴史に残る人たちのお墓があり渋沢栄一氏のお墓もありました。昨年寄った桜浄苑のカフェは貸切でしたが建物墓をみんなで見学。寛永寺さんの桜はほぼ散っていました。
その後、国際子ども図書館で休憩のつもりでしたが穴場の図書館もこの季節だけは整理券を配っていました。でも待つことなく休憩できました。そこからみんなで食事できる上野周辺のレストランを携帯で探しましたがどこもいっぱいで席が取れません。コロナ禍、桜も散り、雨天だと甘くみていましたが上の駅周辺はとんでもない人混みでした。みんなで食事するのを諦めかけていた時、後から合流した地元の英会話講師のKさんが根津のデニーズを提案。近くにあるのにすっかりその存在を忘れていたので早速上野公園から根津に移動。10分も歩かず到着、根津でも観光客が利用しないのですぐに８名全員が座れて食事ができました。さすが地元の防災専門家！その後上野公園にもどり不忍の池によってから解散したのでした。
みなさんお疲れ様でした。忘れられないお花見となりました。
この前後、私の身の回りには大きな変化がたくさんありました。
まずは私の仕事内容が大きく変わりました。3月までは週5日間の公務を4月からは週2日にしてもらいました。そして週5日間はフリーランスでイラストレーターの仕事を本格的に再開しました。
そして私にとって最も大きな事件は腰椎脊椎間狭窄症になってしまったことです。大学病院にて手術をする必要があるかもしれないとの診断でした。結局手術は見送り運動療法を行うことにしました。 腕の良い鍼灸師さんも近所に見つかり今のところ順調に回復しています。長い距離は歩けませんが自転車での移動は問題ありませんのでまた上野公園でアウトドアランチをご一緒しましょう。
