These are the infamous trees which only blossum once a year here in Japan and only for a period of about 1 week. I am lucky enough that the competition was held in that same week so I could see them up close through my own eyes. Last night we had a reception with all the pilots and 5 guest speakers from the local town. They had plenty of food and drinks and even a gospel singing group that played us some lovely tunes. After the party we all went to check out one of the most popular things in town, Cherry Blossum veiwing at night. It was quite amazing they have a special walking path along these Cherry Blossums that you see in the picture that is all lit up with lights and it makes for a great place to party and have fun. There was a group of us maybe 20 people that went and I was entertained by the crazy japanese. If you think they are crazy wait untill you see t hem with a belly full of free alcohol.. Some of the things I saw last night were quite x rated so I can not publish any pictures unfortunately. One of the highlights were the bush fire men, Who dropped their pants and lit up their bush... yep thats right ouchhh you should have herd them screaming I could not believe what I was seeing. When the rain stops I will go out and try to get a better picture of the Cherry Blossum flowers..