Sakura (Cherry blossom)

Sakura is the most famous flower in Japan and it is one of the most attractive scenery to tourists all over the world. There are hundreds of well-known sakura spots in Japan, and beautiful sakura can be viewed everywhere in Japan.

Cherry Blossom Festival

Visitors come from all over the island, from mainland Japan, and even from other countries to see the earliest sign of the approaching spring. The beautiful blossoms are just one of the many wonderful sites, sounds and smells of this awesome festival.

A winding path of over 700 stones steps leads you up to the Nago Castle site. The path is lined with beautiful ishidoro or stone lanterns. About half way up the path you will find a Torii Gate and a Shinto Shrine proving a lovely place to rest and either take pictures or videotape the scenery.

Everywhere you look is a sea of color. The millions of pink blossoms make a gorgeous backdrop for all the colorful costumes, floats,paper lanterns and booth decorations. Even though the festival lasts only one weekend, the cherry blossoms are in bloom from two for four weeks.

Japan Geisha

Geisha are professional hostesses who entertain customers through various performing arts as gei means arts or performances, and sha means people in Japanese. Geisha are not either ordinary hostesses or prostitutes. They patiently went through extensive training to become geisha and keep improving their skills by taking many lessons. Nowadays, there are geisha who learn computer skills or English conversation to serve English-speaking customers. Also, the work of geisha is expanding, including modeling or international tours, for example.

It's believed that the women who danced foe warriers in the 11th century are the predecessors of geisha. Geisha are trained in a number of skills: traditional Japanese dance, singing, playing instruments, flower arrangement, wearing kimono, Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy, alcohol serving manners, and more.

There are two basic types of geisha. One is called tachikata who mainly do traditional Japanese dance(mai). The other is called jikata who mainly sing or play instruments. Tachikata are usually maiko(young gersha) and jikata are older geisha women.