佐賀の英語教室Happy Balloons

How have you been, dear readers? I believe many of you are living under enormous stress cased by the new coronavirus. As of April 8, eleven people are infected in Saga; most of them recently went to more affected areas such as France, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Fukui Prefectures. Even though local schools, from elementary to high schools, were closed in March except for graduation ceremonies, the students started going to school from April 6. Despite the virus, Sakura cherry blossoms bloomed from mid-March this year in Saga. They begin to fall from the trees now. The picture above shows Tamashima River in Karatsu, Saga. In summer, lots of children play in the river. The second picture shows a park surrounded by cherry trees in Saga. The park is used for rugby practice. Humans have overcome unknown viruses throughout history and we will win eventually. So let's continue to hope. From the bottom of my heart, I hope we can enjoy Sakura cherry blossoms next year without a...

I went to Nara Prefecture last week for sakura cherry blossom viewing. Although it was a bit early, I enjoyed seeing cherry blossoms which are just starting to bloom. One of the highlights of cherry blossom viewing in Nara is visiting World Heritage sites while enjoying the sight of cherry blossoms. Here are some pictures showing Horyu-ji Temple, a World Heritage site. I also visited Yoshino, another World Heritage site which is famous for cherry blossoms. This mountainous area is a place where  Shugendo religion is practiced. It mainly consists of ancient Japanese mountain worship and Buddhism. It looks too small to see in the picture above but in the middle is a Buddhist pagoda and a cherry tree in bloom. There are cherry trees ready to bloom on the mountain surface. If you are planning to go to Yoshino by train, Kintestu Line is convenient. From Kintetsu Nara Station, I changed trains twice; first at Yamato Saidai-ji and second at Kashihara Jingu Mae...