Toyama Tulip Festival

Takenoko (Bamboo Shoot) Digging

Bamboo shoot digging?? Yep, had to try it. It is a school organized event, so with a limited amount of time, we entered the bamboo groves in search of the elusive bamboo shoots (pictured below). Apparently there is a good crop every other year, so needless to say, with my luck, this was NOT the good year. I didn't find any shoots. However, many of my friends and Masa had much better luck than I did.
Masa spotted a WHOPPER! Good find! I don't have too much to say on takenoko except that it does make a very tasty side dish.

Better than Sakura

These spring beauties are my favorites; I love the gnarled branches, and the large flowers. The flowers bloom before any of the leaves do, first the white ones, then sakura and then the pink ones.

Late Sakura

The late sakura is a much hardier lot than the famous and fleeting, someiyoshino. The babies pictured below can withstand high winds and heavy rains, whereas the most famous sakura, someiyoshino, can't so much as make it through a gusty day (it is precisely this delicacy that lends it its beauty).