By Alex
Mount Yoshino in Nara Prefecture has been a popular cherry blossom viewing spot for nobility for over a thousand years. From various viewpoints, visitors can admire thousands of cherry trees, earning it the name “a thousand trees in one glance.” It is said that there are 30,000 cherry trees stretching over an 8-kilometer area from the foothills to the mountain ridges, with the best viewing period generally from early to late April.
World Heritage Site Mount Yoshino
— wasabitool (@wasabitool) April 6, 2021
I finally captured the ideal sakura cloud sea I’ve always dreamed of? pic.twitter.com/hzIW91AJUt
▲ “I’ve always wanted to photograph a sakura cloud sea, and I finally did it.”
In spring, besides the blooming cherry blossoms, the moist air in the mountains also creates favorable conditions for viewing the cloud sea. Photographer wasabitool (@wasabitool) recently shared four photos of the cloud sea taken from higher elevations on Mount Yoshino. The images centered around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kinpusen-ji Temple’s Zaō Hall, already looked magnificent with their light pink cherry blossoms, but with the addition of the cloud sea, Mount Yoshino instantly transformed into a fairyland—mysterious, dreamlike, and filled with an incredible romantic atmosphere.
The photographer wasabitool also felt he had been very lucky that day. He had always wanted to capture photos of the Mount Yoshino cloud sea, but after waiting for five years without success, he decided to try his luck again when the weather forecast predicted poor conditions for the weekend. Before arriving at the shooting location, Mount Yoshino had experienced heavy rain, so there were very few tourists or photographers. He waited for several hours, and finally, “cloud sea after cloud sea began to flow out.” He stayed until evening when it started to get dark, and the houses and streets began to light up, casting a golden hue on the surrounding cherry blossoms, creating a scene resembling a golden dragon coiling through the clouds (see the fourth photo).
▲ (photo by wasabitool @twitter)
▲ (photo by wasabitool @twitter)
▲ (photo by wasabitool @twitter)
▲ (photo by wasabitool @twitter)
Source: Grapee.jp