There is a large variety of cherry blossoms in Japan. Somei-yoshino is a well-known one, but that's not all. Please look at the bottom photo. It's called "Edo-higan" cherry. I found this beautiful tree at Ouju-hiroba (Cherry trees plaza) near Chitose-Funabashi station on the Odakyu line. Edo-higan is a representative early-bloom cherry blossom. We can see the pinkish blossoms from February. Luckily, a mejiro (white-eye) was coming to the tree. Judging from the belly stripe pattern, it's female. She was hanging on a branch, and very keen on sucking the nectar. Its green-colored wings were brilliant.
Well, I can't be written off here as this is a railway blog. Taking this opportunity, I'm showing one of the Odakyu star trains. The top photo is the EMU Odakyu 30000 series, also known as Romancecar EXE-alpha. I've already introduced it several times, but this is the first time to show you an image of the cab with a gangway in the front. The EMU 30000 series was commissioned in 1996 under the nickname of EXE. EXE stands for "Excellent Express". One set of the train is composed of ten cars, and can be broken up into six and four car sections to enhance operational flexibility. After 21 years of its operation, EXE was renovated as EXE-alpha in 2017. The body color was changed from bronze to silver. The interior was upgraded, for example, luggage spaces were equipped. I enjoyed beautiful cherry blossoms and the Odakyu train on that day.
Note: "Romancecar (one word)" is the formal name in English by Odakyu.
