Sakura Scouting 2022・平泉桜プレビュー2022
最近の平泉はゆっくりだけど確実に暖かくなっています。雪もほぼ解け出して、つぼみや若芽があちこちに見えてきて、そして帰ってきた小鳥の声も届くようになっています。
どの季節もそうですが、平泉の春にも独特な景色が見れます。その中の迫力のあるものといえば、もちろん桜とのことです。
4月後半から5月の最初にかけて咲く頃を迎え入れると、町内のあらゆるとろこでは綺麗で小さなサクラの花がふわっと木上に付いた雲のように咲いて、道端や庭と公園にはカラフルな風景を見せます。町の花として、本当に目のつくところには数多くサクラの木が立っていて、観光と共に思い存分見れます。
ただし、サクラは咲く期間が短くて、あっという間に散ってしまう花ですので、平泉への起こしの際も機会をみて、出来るだけいっぱい見て回りたいとは思われますが、そのために今月の記事では旅行の企画に役に立つおススメな桜スポットを少し紹介したいと思います。
Slowly but surely, the weather is warming and signs of spring are returning to Hiraizumi. The earliest buds are starting to appear on trees, fresh shoots and greens are pushing out of the soil, and the birds are returning from their winter sabbatical.
Spring in Hiraizumi comes with its own distinctive scenery. Though it’s something shared with most regions of Japan, one of the most striking elements of Hiraizumi’s spring are the blossoming sakura (Japanese cherry) trees. A large number of the delicate white or pink flowers grow on the trees, looking from afar like a miniature cloud wrapped around the branches.
The sakura flowers are short-lived, typically blooming and shedding in a span of just a few weeks. Sakura season is on a rolling calendar across Japan, but in the Hiraizumi area, the prime viewing period usually comes between late April to the beginning of May. Sakura, being the town flower, are ubiquitous throughout Hiraizumi, and in that short period of blooming, visitors can enjoy the sight of these special trees all around them in parks, gardens, and by the roadside.
That being said, planning your time in Hiraizumi to make the most of your visit requires a little foreknowledge, so today, we’d like to introduce a few suggested spots to make sure to visit when the flowers are in bloom.
Sakura trees lined up along the road to Chūson-ji
まずは毎年高く評価されている県道３００号線の桜。平泉駅前の道路から中尊寺を通る県道３００の一部分が両側に桜の木が数多く並んでいて、咲くころには一気に広い新たな風景に切り替わります。歩いても、バスや車で運転していても、日当たりの良い道路ですので、薄色の桜の花がとても綺麗に照らされて、気持ちのいい通りです。
大体の観光客はこの県道３００を通って、中尊寺への途中、ここで桜を楽しんでいますが、実は近くにはもう一つの隠れスポットもあります。中尊寺を通って更に10分ぐらい行けば、県道の側道の一部では桜が並んでいる所があるんですが、先ほどの３００号とはちょっと違って、こちらの桜がとても大きくて、道路の上に枝が交わって見事な天蓋を見せます。また、人はあまり通らない場所ですので、ゆっくりと写真を撮るには向いています。なお、巡回観光バス「るんるん」が中尊寺に寄ってからこの道路を通るので、中尊寺を見終わったらバスで移動するとここも見れます。
One of the most well-known sakura spots in Hiraizumi is Prefectural Highway 300, or at least the leg that runs up to Chūson-ji Temple. Once you turn off the main road from the station towards Chūson-ji, the 20-minute walk will take you through a long section of sidewalk charmingly set with cobblestones, and lined on both sides with daffodils, a hedge, and a long procession of sakura trees. In bloom, the light-colored flowers catch the sun on the open path, and brighten the scenery considerably. It’s just as lovely from a car or bus – just remember to keep one eye on the road if you’re driving!
While most people will see the sakura on route 300 on their way to Chūson-ji, just past the temple there’s a little-used access road for the expressway. It’s a short detour, but for avid sakura spotters, worth the few minutes it takes to get there: this road is similarly lined with sakura trees, but much taller than those along the main road! If you want a secluded place to focus on some unique photos, this typically low-traffic back road offers an impressive sight, with the large trees standing tall overhead and stretching into arches over the road. The Run-Run Bus also routes through here on the way to Takadachi Gikeido, meaning you can also get a good view while taking advantage of the convenient bus line.
A tall-reaching canopy of sakura on the old access road
平泉のお寺の境内でも、桜を見かけます。歴史溢れる寺院の背景に少しカラフルに際立つ桜がぽちぽちと出てきますが、一気にいっぱいを見たい場合は寺の近くの別なところがベスト。中尊寺ならば、先ほど取り上げた県道３００もありますし、毛越寺の場合ですと、となりに位置している観自在王院跡があります。こちらも本来は寺院でしたが、現代では歴史公園となっていて、復元されている浄土庭園の舞鶴が池の周りに桜がいっぱい咲いています。
At the temples themselves, you can find individual trees here and there in both Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji, lending spots of color that accent the historical atmosphere, but the denser concentrations of trees will be found nearby, just outside the grounds. Route 300 above in Chūson-ji’s case, and for Mōtsū-ji, the neighboring historical park at the Kanjizaio-in Temple Remains has a number of sakura clustered around the central pond, making for fantastic scenery.
Two varieties of sakura side-by-side at Kanjizaō-in
また、もう少し平泉の中心から離れれば、達谷窟毘沙門堂ではかなり高くて見事なしだれ桜が数木あります。レンタサイクルではおよそ40分ぐらいの距離ですが、人は毎年見に集まってきます。なお、途中では町内で有名な３６０樹年も持つとても古いエドヒガンも拝見できますので、少し遠いですが是非見てください。
However, if you range a little further out, to Takkoku-no-Iwaya Temple, you’ll find a display of weeping cherries of impressive height just outside the temple’s front gate. The long, drooping branches laden with blossoming flowers draw a crowd of sakura shutterbugs every year, and can easily be viewed at the same time as a visit to the temple. Along the way, you can also get a look at a very special tree: One of Hiraizumi’s oldest sakura, a venerable edohigan estimated at over 360 years old, which sits on the roadside not far past Mōtsū-ji.
The enormous, elegant weeping sakura at Takkoku no Iwaya
桜の季節には平泉中が桜に溢れますので、ゆったりと巡って存分に楽しめるよう、時間に余裕をもって予定を立てながらお越しください。
Hiraizumi is awash with sakura when the blooming season finally arrives, so make sure you plan your trip with plenty of time allowed, to take in as many of these special little blossoms as you can!
