圓山夜櫻

About this photo

This photo shows crowds gathered under the cherry trees in Maruyama Park at night. The Japanese title, Maruyama Night Cherry Blossoms, is written in older characters. It appears in Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto), published in 1907 (Meiji 40) by the Kyoto City Council. It captures the bustle of a night of blossom viewing.

Maruyama Park opened in 1886 as the first park in Kyoto. Rental halls and restaurants lined the area, and in 1879 Inoue Mankichi, from Nagasaki, opened the Yaami Hotel, said to be the first hotel in Kyoto. When it opened, it was the only place in Kyoto where foreigners could stay. But in April 1906 it caught fire, and the blaze spread to the five-story Maruyama Onsen building nearby. That was a year before this album came out, and the hotel later closed for good.

Maruyama Park is now a Place of Scenic Beauty. Every year from late March to early April, the weeping cherry that is the park's symbol is lit up at night, and bonfires are lit as well.

Glossary