Cherry Blossoms in Brooklyn

I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden today for Hanami, the Japanese tradition of viewing cherry blossoms, which started a few days ago. The viewing of cherry blossoms has been a recurring theme in Japanese art for centuries. (Click here to see an example of an Ukiyo-e print with geisha and cherry blossoms by Kitagawa Utamaro I at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.) At the botanical garden, not all of the trees were in bloom yet, but I did manage to take a few pictures with my digital camera about 1pm today, until the batteries in my camera died. Both of the pictures you see here were taken near the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. I used today's gorgeous blue sky as a backdrop for the pink blossoms in the picture above. The one below has white blossoms framing the pond and the torii gate that traditionally is found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine.