Given our disappointment with the Tokyo scene, we cut short our stay in Tokyo. Since the forecast indicated rains in Kyoto on April 6, we decided to we decided to leave Tokyo immediately and head for Osaka, our main base for visiting Western Japan.
It was a 3-hour ride by shinkansen to Osaka. After checking into our hotel, which was walking distance from Shin-Osaka station, we returned shortly to the station to take another shinkansen to Kyoto. The ride was super-fast: only 14 minutes!
We visited the Kyoto tourism office at the Kyoto station to get maps and ask for tips on where we could still find sakura. We were directed to the Heian Shrine, which we had been to in the autumn of 2004. This time we were able to visit the garden inside the shrine. We were awe-struck by the beauty of the trees and of the garden.
