February is a tricky month for venturing out in Tokyo. Daylight hours lengthen and the light softens slightly, but the weather itself seems controlled by a sadist at the thermostat.

Blissfully warm one moment and freezing the next, it's 50 shades of uncertainty.

Nonetheless, in the hearts of haiku poets and optimists alike, it's the sprays of sharply beautiful plum blossoms — a precursor to cherry blossom season — that mark the official start to spring. Hoping to find them in bloom, I head off to admire the landscape.