flowers in full bloom
the paths of Omuro
bustling with people
花盛り御室の路の人通り
-Dōkei (桐渓).

This poem seems rather apt. Just a few years ago the grounds would have been a checkerboard of picnic blankets, with drunken revelers napping on benches and children playing.
#桜

Reaching their peak (typically) around mid-April, the temple's groves of cherry trees are the last to bloom within the city.

Known as 'Omuro-zakura' (御室桜), Ninna-ji's trees are uniquely stunted, growing to only around 2m tall. They are a variant of 'sato-zakura' (郷さくら).

It is thought that Omuro-zakura (御室桜) originated in Heian times.
The current cherry trees were planted in the early Edo period (江戸時代), shortly after Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光 1604-51) helped rebuild the temple.

#仁和寺 #Ninnaji #御室桜 #omurozakura #sakura #Kyoto #京都

By 1735 the hanami parties had become so raucous (inappropriate for a temple) that the grounds were closed.

The ban caused such a stir that by 1757 the abbot had a change of heart. He ordered the construction of tea pavilions and opened the groves to one and all for a month🙌

There is an Edo folk song that goes-
"I love plain women,
even though,
like the Omuro cherry trees,
their blossoms are low"
わたしやお多福 御室の桜 はなが低うても人が好く.

It is an allusion to the unusually stunted Omuro trees, also known as Otafuku-zakura (お多福桜).
#京都

For centuries it was unclear why Omuro's trees were so stunted, but recent soil analysis revealed the answer.
Clay-like soil covers Omuro. Not only is the soil hard, preventing the trees from spreading roots, but it is also low in nutrients.

#Japan #Kyoto #お多福桜 #御室桜 #御室