I was so busy posting photos of our day trip to Tokyo that the cherry blossom season came and went here in Fukushima City.  I didn’t even have time this year to do a proper hanami!

However, when we returned from Tokyo (at the end of March) the cherry blossoms were about to open in Fukushima. And here are some painting by Fukushima kids……  (Photos taken with permission of staff.)

I came upon this little exhibit upon departing the bullet train. Our train station here in Fukushima City has two sections–a not bad but not elegant regular part (with local trains) and then a much posher, newer, cleaner bullet train section. (You need a bullet train ticket to enter the bullet train part of the station, so it is usually pretty devoid of crowds.) And anyway, this exhibit was in the bullet train part of the station.

Prizes awarded to the best paintings. (All paintings were done by Fukushima kids.)

An actual cherry blossom tree in Fukushima City. The FTV building is a Fukushima TV station.