This is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring has finally arrived in Tokyo. The cherry blossoms bloomed about a week early with peak bloom happening last weekend. Pink trees popping up everywhere and now it's snowing pink sakura petals across Tokyo. Spring made a few attempts of arriving but then it turned cold again. The weather has been weird. It was snowing less than 2 weeks ago in Tokyo and many parts of the world.

On a serious note for a second, March was suicide awareness month in Japan where the third highest suicide rate in the world exists. Last year, 21,140 people died by suicide here. Suicide is also the most preventable cause of death in the world. One of my blog readers Brian reached out to me to see if I could collaborate with TELL, aka Tokyo English Lifeline, to help them to get their message out. I've spent some time this month connecting them with people who can help them spread their message.

TELL is an NPO that runs Japan's only certified, English-language lifeline. Last year, it fielded more than 7800 calls from people in need! TELL can be reached at 03-5774-0992 or via chat service on the weekends. It's 100% confidential, non-judgmental service. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. You are not alone.

Check out this video Tokyo Creative made as part of this collaboration.

Today's Configuration: Leica M10 with a Summicron 28mm f/2.0 and Summilux 35mm and 50mm f/1.4.

I always find the caution sign animations so extreme in Tokyo.

Perfectly in bloom.

I've been speaking with one of the owners at ABC Coffee about printing off some of my pictures and hanging them up in the shop. I'm thinking four big 12 x 18 inch prints behind the main setting area and then a few smaller 8x12 inch prints around the shop. The shop is completely black and white so popping with a bit of color I think will look really nice. I'm meeting up with the owner tomorrow to discuss the details.

Nakameguro Cherry Blossoms at Meguro River

I made a few side trips while passing through Nakameguro in the past week to stop and walked under the cherry blossoms and take some photos. I lived in Nakameguro for about 5 years so this is a familiar area to me. It's been about 8 years since I lived here and it has changed a lot. The cherry blossom viewing has really gotten commercialized and with it brought huge crowds, even during the weekdays. It's still very beautiful to walk around and enjoy the scenes, food and grab a beer.

If you missed the Cherry Blossoms this year don't worry I made a desktop wallpaper size file of my favorite picture of the Cherry Blossoms at Nakameguro River available for download. Enjoy!

One question I have for business travelers. How do you travel with your suits? Do you hand carry in a garment bag? Do you fold and put in your suitcase? Do you have an embedded garment bag in your suitcase? After all these years I still don't have a silver bullet for traveling around with a suit. Today I hand carry in one of the garment bags the suit comes in but it's not very convenient and doesn't work well if you need more than one suit. I'm getting a new suitcase and thinking if I should reconsider my approach. I'm curious what others do. If you travel with a suit and have tips to share please leave a comment below.

Update: I found this great video from a tailor on how to fold and pack your suit in your suitcase. Great tip on putting in an oversized ziplock pack and leaving a little air in the bag to reduce pressure. It looks like a great solution.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Be well.

Dave