Feast for the eye in spring in Sado Island

Japanese people admire autumn leaves because of the  beautiful colors but...

Admiring  "新緑 - shinryoku” or spring green is my favorite around this time of year! 

You can see white dots in between different hues of green.  They are "Yamazakura" or wild cherry trees in full bloom near Aikawa gold mine.

Cherry flowers are not always pink!  This is "御衣黄 - gyoikou" and it has greenish petals! It's also beautiful.

Persimmon buds and a hill covered with Shinryoku in my neighborhood.  

Feast for the palate in spring!

This is bracken, one of the popular wild edible plants provided by Mother Nature in spring.

There are few varieties of vegetables in spring and these edible plants are a real blessing from nature.

Another popular plant, Udo.  Udo tempura is soo good!

Matsugasaki village -  It was early May and the shrine festival was held on that day.

Terraced rice paddies in Iwakubi village.  Several paddies have been turned into buckwheat fields.

Looking up the terraced paddies from the lower altitude.

In early May,  farmers start planting rice seedlings.  These paddies are small and irregularly shaped and farmers have to use small machines.

We can enjoy Shinryoku from late April till early May.  It lasts only about a week or so but these scenes make my mind and stomach full with joy!  I love driving around to find another beautiful and picturesque scenes in Sado!