Hirosaki Castle - Canvas Hakubunkan luminous landscape reflects both the

luminous landscape reflects both the natural beauty of northern Japan and the transience of the seasons

each rendered with unique patterns of rich red

a row of traditional warehouses and the silhouette of distant hills bask under streaks of rose-tinted clouds

Petals drift

Hirosaki Castle - Canvas Hakubunkan luminous landscape reflects both theby Yoshida Hiroshi The castle does not announce itself. It emerges slowly through a curtain of weeping cherry branches, pale walls and dark rooflines glimpsed between cascading blossoms: present but partially withheld, as if the season itself has chosen what to reveal. Hirosaki Castle in Aomori prefecture is one of Japan's few remaining original castle structures, and one of the country's most celebrated hanami sites. The weeping cherry trees that