CHERRY TREES BY THE SEA

Spring is the season for cherry blossoms. Different from other cherry spots in Japan, in Seto Inland sea, you can not only enjoy the view of early cherry blossoms, but also take a look at the wonderful seascape and feel the authentic Japanese culture and customs. The cherry blossoms, like lumps of pink clouds, are floating with the wind down to the ground, or falling into the river, even swimming across the coastline and dropping among the waves.

Text &photos by Fengying & CFP

海邊的櫻花樹(shù)

春天是櫻花盛開(kāi)的季節(jié)，有別于日本其他的賞櫻勝地，在瀨戶內(nèi)海，不僅可以欣賞早櫻，還可以欣賞風(fēng)光旖旎的海景，感受純正的日本民俗風(fēng)情。一樹(shù)樹(shù)的櫻花，仿佛一團(tuán)團(tuán)粉紅的云彩，隨著輕風(fēng)落在土地上，落在河流里，甚至飄越了海岸線，落進(jìn)了洶涌的大海。

The cherry blossom season in Seto

For many Chinese tourists, Seto Inland sea in Japan is not yet familiar; however, it is a popular tourist destination for Japanese and honored as“The Heritage for the future”. In Seto, the pure Japanese traditional culture is kept well. Along the street in Seto, there are all kinds of village operas, ritual ceremonies, which look like frames of Japanese genre paintings.

Three counties in Seto Inland Sea——Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Ehime are full of fl owering cherry trees, natural and unsophisticated fi shing villages and old castles. When early cherry blossoms embrace spring, you can take a leisurely walk round the lakeshore full of cloud-like cherry petals. Or you can also take some wine with you, sitting down under the cherry tree, enjoying the view and wine, dancing and singing. Walking across the cherry forests till the seaside and watching the colorful petals fl oating over the sea and the clouds immersing the forests, it's like crashing into a wonderland.

I wander along the street and enter a random restaurant. The host is in kimono, taking quick short steps to me and makes a tea carefully and honestly. Putting on a kimono is a very complicated process—clothes, belts, pockets and so on. Every step has a strict rule, representing the inheritance and following of tradition. But in Seto, wearing kimono to streets can not be more normal. Regardless of the view, the people or the stories here, they are all kept within the authentic Japanese tastes.

Cruising around Seto

Enjoying the fl owers by cruise ship is a special experience. There are a lot of islands in Seto Inland sea. The view of both sides is a little similar to Sanxia in China, and there are also three bridges in Inland sea— Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Seto Bridge and Tatara Bridge. They are all very famous and grand bridges over the sea. Our cruise ship, Venus Pacifi c, is a high-end ship with complete facilities, which makes our cherry voyage very cozy.

Besides the view on sea, the tourists can also step out of the ship to see some interesting places on the way. One of the stops that cannot be missed is Matsuyama. Matsuyama belongs to Ehime, faced against Iyo-Nada of Seto Inland Sea; it's also the biggest city in Shikoku. The tram in Matsuyama, which is also called “Dangdang tram“, looks alike a matchbox. It's orange and with wooden seats in velvet covers in it, and the drivers are in old-fashion uniforms—somehow you will get an illusion of time traveling. Taking “Dangdang tram“ you can get to anywhere in the city, but you must go Dogo Onsen. It was built in 1894 and was the fi rst public bathroom issued as an important historical site. There is a watchtower on the roof; the drum hits three times everyday. The sound of drum hovers around the city for a long time.

Takamatsu and Himeji are rather more famous. In the 17th century, in Edo Period, Takamatsu city was fl ourishing and owned by Matsudaira Family. The historical sites kept in good situation till today are important motifs of Japanese paintings. Moreover, Takamatsu is also the birthplace of Udon. There is an Udon school in Takamatsu, where the tourists are allowed to learn the making of Udon and have a taste. The castle in Himeji, which is listed into the World Heritage List, was built in the middle of 14th century and then later in 16th century, the military offi cer Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave an order to build a 3-storey watchtower, Osaka Castle. The watchtower has a beautiful and elegant shape. It looks like an egret spreading its wings. So Himeji is also called the city of egret. In 1931, it became the national treasure; then in 1993, it was added into the World Heritage List by the UNESCO. All kinds of activities are held in Himeji all round year— Cherry Blossom Festival and Peony Festival of Senhime in spring, Harbor Festival in Summer, Mid-Autumn Festival and Exhibition of Ceramics in Winter, making this city immersed into a sense of culture and history.

瀨戶的櫻花季

對(duì)很多中國(guó)游客來(lái)說(shuō)，日本瀨戶內(nèi)海還是一個(gè)陌生的地方，但她卻是日本人自己的旅游勝地，被譽(yù)為“留給未來(lái)的遺產(chǎn)”。瀨戶地區(qū)都保持著純正的日本傳統(tǒng)，各式社戲、祭祀，巡街而過(guò)，感覺(jué)猶如一幅幅純粹的日本民俗風(fēng)情畫。

瀨戶內(nèi)海的廣島、山口、愛(ài)媛三縣，有滿山遍野的櫻花、純樸自然的漁村和據(jù)險(xiǎn)而建的舊城堡。早櫻迎春而開(kāi)時(shí)，可以圍著“長(zhǎng)堤十里花如云”的湖堤信步一圈，也可以攜酒帶肴在櫻花樹(shù)下席地而坐，賞櫻暢飲，唱歌興舞。穿過(guò)櫻花林走到海岸邊，看著海上飄蕩著的各色櫻花，看著白云在半山腰的櫻花林交匯于一起，仿如墮入夢(mèng)幻的仙境。

漫步在街頭，隨意走入一間飯店，飯店老板娘穿著和服，踩著碎步，恭敬、小心、親切地沏茶。穿戴和服是一件復(fù)雜的工程，穿衣、別腰帶、系布袋等，每一個(gè)步驟都有嚴(yán)格的要求，體現(xiàn)著對(duì)傳統(tǒng)的傳承和延襲。而在瀨戶內(nèi)海地區(qū)穿和服上街，是一件再正常不過(guò)的事情。這里無(wú)論是景物還是人事，都保持著純正的日本味道。

跟著郵輪游瀨戶

乘坐郵輪是一種比較特別的賞花方式。瀨戶內(nèi)海有許多島嶼，兩邊風(fēng)光有點(diǎn)像中國(guó)的三峽，且內(nèi)海又有三座大橋——明石海峽大橋、瀨戶大橋、多多羅大橋，都是世界著名的海上大橋，非常雄偉。我們乘坐的維納斯太平洋號(hào)是一艘中高檔郵船，設(shè)施齊全，讓海上的賞花之旅非常舒心。

除了海上觀景，人們還可以下船去參觀沿途的名勝，其中一個(gè)不容錯(cuò)過(guò)的郵輪經(jīng)停點(diǎn)是松山。松山屬于愛(ài)媛縣，面對(duì)瀨戶內(nèi)海的伊予灘，是四國(guó)最大的城市。松山的電車，當(dāng)?shù)厝朔Q為“當(dāng)當(dāng)電車”，車外形像火柴盒，橘紅色，車內(nèi)有天鵝絨外套的木制座椅，駕駛員穿著過(guò)去年代的制服，讓人有時(shí)間穿越的錯(cuò)覺(jué)。乘坐“當(dāng)當(dāng)電車”可以很方便地游覽松山市各處景點(diǎn)，道后溫泉本館是必去的一站。它修建于1894年，是第一個(gè)被指定為重要文物的公共浴場(chǎng)，屋頂有被稱為振鷺閣的望樓，望樓上的“刻太鼓”每天早中晚?yè)舸蛉危穆曉跍厝l(xiāng)久久回蕩。

高松市和姬路市更是名聲赫赫的旅游地。在17世紀(jì)江戶時(shí)代，高松作為松平家族的“城下町”（以諸侯的居城為中心發(fā)展起來(lái)的城鎮(zhèn)）繁盛起來(lái)，現(xiàn)在保留著的許多名勝古跡，都是日本畫中重要的表現(xiàn)內(nèi)容。它又是烏冬面的發(fā)源地，當(dāng)?shù)赜袨醵鎸W(xué)校，游客可進(jìn)去學(xué)一學(xué)，吃一碗自己做的烏冬面。而被列入《世界遺產(chǎn)名錄》的姬路城，是姬路市內(nèi)的一座城堡,建于14世紀(jì)中葉，并在16世紀(jì)由武將豐臣秀吉下令建造了三層的望樓“天守閣”。它形態(tài)優(yōu)美，被比喻為展翅的白鷺，故也稱白鷺城。1931年它被指定為日本國(guó)寶，1993年被聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織評(píng)為世界文化遺產(chǎn)。圍繞著姬路城一年四季都有活動(dòng)，春季有賞櫻會(huì)、千姬牡丹節(jié)，夏天有 “港口節(jié)”，秋天有賞月會(huì)，冬天有陶器展等，充滿了歷史與文化的氣息。

Seto Inland Sea

It is located among Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. It has an area of 9500 square kilometers and is formed due to the sinking of land and saline intrusion. Seto Inland Ses has a zigzag coastline, with different sizes of islands among the sea. Thus, it's also called“Sea with multiple islands“. The main cities in Seto Inland Sea are Hiroshima, Shimonoseki, Okayama, Matsuyama, Takamatsu etc.

瀨戶內(nèi)海

瀨戶內(nèi)海介于本州、九州、四國(guó)之間，面積約9500平方公里，由陸地下沉海水入侵而形成。海岸線曲折，大小島嶼星羅棋布，號(hào)稱“多島?！薄|戶內(nèi)海地區(qū)主要城市有廣島、下關(guān)、岡山、松山、高松等。