Seasons in Japan don’t just inconspicuously merge from one to another. Somehow, there always seems to be a clear and defined day when one season ends and another begins. This year – as if it had all been meticulously planned out – winter abruptly ended on the first day of March when temperatures climbed into the high teens, signaling the start of spring. The temperature will gradually rise from here on out, and apart from a few days at the tail end of this week, it is unlikely to drop under double digits again until November. With plum blossoms now in full bloom all over the Kanto region, we took a trip out to Sankeien (三溪園) – a spacious Japanese style garden in southern Yokohama – to make the most of the spring sun. Among the historic buildings exhibited in the park are several tea houses, as well as a three-storied pagoda which was moved from an abandoned temple in Kyoto in 1914.

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