There is one sole Kawazuzakura at Shinryuji temple in Sayama City. But its a beauty. I visited it on Thursday March 13th and, interestingly, three quarters of it were blooming and one quarter was completely bare! I’ve never seen that level of disparity in bloom on a single tree before. It was cloudy the whole time I was at the temple and, unfortunately, I find it hard to photograph on a cloudy day. It doesn’t help that my Pixel phone only takes a good photo in sunshine and that my Canon camera is broken. Thus, the photos I have aren’t great and don’t do the tree justice.
Shinryuji Temple
I don’t mind admitting: I don’t know the first thing about the temple. It was a surprise find while driving from Sayama to Iruma on that day. (Johnson Town among other places). I am not even entirely sure I have the name right in English, as the Kanji can be read various ways! Its on Google Maps as Shinryuji, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot these days as Google Maps is notoriously inaccurate recently. Moreover, when I did a Google search (not recommended) the AI spewed out a whole lot of nonsense. Including, and I quote, “Shinryuji Temple is located in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, not Sayama…” Hmmm! Google, there are multiple shrines of the same name in Japan.
There is also a plum blossom on the grounds and a wintersweet on the promenade in front of the temple.
Temple information
Temple: Shinryuji / Shinryu Temple / 信立寺
Address: 3 Chome-5-1 Hirose, Sayama, Saitama 350-1319. View on Google Maps.
There is a small free parking lot at the temple.