Sakura at Hanazono Shinto Shrine in Shinjuku

I started March 23rd with a chocolate taiyaki from 7-Eleven.  

Afterwards I headed to Shinjuku-sanchome Station. Less crowded than Shinjuku Station and it put me very near my first destination. Marui Annex and KERA SHOP. I wanted to see the new Moi-même-Moitié Candelabra Embroidery Shirts, and everything else they might have. The shirts are very nice, but I waited on buying anything because I still did not know what my flight situation was going to be. It was still really nice to be able to see KERA SHOP's window display. Very classy!

Of course I was still wanting to see sakura. And I knew of one place it would be at, that would be easier to get to and hopefully not be crowded. Unlike Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which is prime sakura viewing for locals.

In 2018 I visited Hanazono Shinto Shrine. I remembered the sakura trees were just beginning to bloom. Since this time it was later in the month, I headed over to the shrine. 

I went through the main torii this time, guarded by this a-gyo open mouth komainu and child.  

With the un-gyo closed mouth komainu partner, paw on the ball of wisdom. Open mouth represents the letter A which is the beginning of all things, and closed mouth represents Um which is the end of all things. Together they represent the sacred sound "Aum".

As for the shrine, the sando leading to the haiden was beautiful. 

The sakura trees were in full bloom. 

Even with grey skies, it was lovely. 

Of course blue skies would have been wonderful, but then probably a lot more people would be there. Thankfully there weren't too many and most people kept some distance from each other. 

Since I had been here before, I didn't spend much time looking at the shrines. I was here for this view. 

It's really nice how the trees sometimes have little buds springing from their trunks. Being able to see sakura closely is special. 

Looking at this, I can't help but think of in anime, they often will have sakura trees. I do recommend visiting Hanazono Shinto Shrine in Shinjuku when the sakura bloom.