Green Day

Today is "Green Day" (actually, I just found out that Green Day was moved to the 4th May as of last year, and the 29th April is now called Showa Day after a previous Emperor, but the trees didn't get the memo). Japan is good at green, in fact at this time of year it is luminously, luridly, effulgently, almost virulently green with the fresh leaves brightly lit up by the increasingly powerful sun. This picture from our walk today certainly doesn't do the scene justice, but I hope you get the idea. This was taken half-way up the hill to Hansobo out the back of Kenchoji (or rather half-way down the hill to Kenchoji, on the route we took).

Some of the greenery is red, of course. I left a touch of green in the next picture to prove this wasn't taken last autumn. It's a more ornamental variety of Japanese maple, this one in Zuisenji a few days ago.