Sakuranbo (さくらんぼ)

"We're going to pick some さくらんぼ today! Are you guys excited or what?" asked the tour leader. My partner and I whooped in joy. I adore cherries. In fact, one of my characters in my books is named Cinnamon Cherry. It was fortunate that we got to pick sakuranbo by ourselves, since originally it was not on the itinerary. We were supposed to come in May. Most likely we'd be picking いちご (ichigo--strawberries). Strawberries are great, but sakuranbo is something else, of course. 


But in June, sakuranbo is abundant. Later on, my best friend (she is Japanese) told me that sakuranbo season is very short! We were fortunate to be able to enjoy sakuranbo.


Sakuranbo is Japanese cherries. Not as sweet as American varieties, the dark red and yellow ones. Sakuranbo is sweet with a tart aftertaste. In a souvenir shop in Katsunuma region, they are selling sakuranbo jam, cakes, cookies, sweets, juice and God knows what else.  My partner literally had to drag me out before I started drooling on them.


I swore I ate at least 1 kilogram of sakuranbo that day. And greedy lil' me bought 300 grams of sakuranbo for 500 yen to be eaten later inside a ryokan--Japanese inn. おいしい--oishii--delicious!