March 26, 2025 – Viewing Sakura in Bloom by Bike (Minobu, Yamanashi)
We’ve been checking the blooms on the cherry blossom trees on a regular basis up at Minobu-san and decided today might be the day to view them in full splendor. To get there, we faced a 3km uphill climb along a lesser known backroad known to the locals called Shiozawa. This is the same road my wife used to run during her teen years as part of her table tennis training regimen 45 + years ago. Up at the top, we stopped briefly at small shrine and then slowly made our way down towards Minobu-san taking in the spectacular views along the way.
Another short uphill stretch would bring us to Minobu-san and we were rewarded with the Shidare Zakura (weeping cherry trees) in full bloom. It was truly a spectacular sight and since it was a weekday, the number of visitors was quite sparse. I can’t imagine what the weekend will bring when the full onslaught of tour buses converges on site. Despite the skies being slightly hazy, we certainly didn’t regret coming on this day as our ride schedule changes from day to day.
After departing the grounds of Minobu-san, we casually rode around the area with my wife pointing out locations where more of the pink blossoming trees could be viewed. Our final stop would be the Nichirenshu Enjitsu Budhist temple where my father-in-law’s gravesite memorial was located. The temple is situated in a scenic region high above overlooking the townsite below. A fitting final resting spot for both dearly departed and those of us still in the land of the living.