The Godzilla Of Cherry Trees

Don’t let this big daddy sneak up on you in the dark! In Japan they don’t mess around when it comes to cherry trees. I saw this explosion of goodness last night at Rikugi-en garden in Tokyo, where they light up the all-powerful sakura until 9:00 every night during The Season. But this one isn’t the only monster in town – in general, cherry trees here look like they’re on steroids compared to their puny ornamental cousins back where I come from.

It looks even bigger in the daytime, don’t you think?

Here’s another behemoth – this one’s at Korakuen.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.