Spring! It’s officially here, I can smell it. Winter knows its time has come, and even though freak snow storms batter our doors, they’re merely the death throes of a passing season. Soon, the ground will be covered in colorful drifts of crocuses, daffodils, and depending on the locale, cherry blossoms.
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For anyone who’s never sat in the gentle rain of cherry blossoms in spring, I encourage you to do so. It’s an incredible sight to watch as millions of pink petals slowly tumble to the ground and then cover it with a pastel carpet. Profuse amounts of cherry blossoms, sakura, are a rare sight in America (unless you live in Washington D.C.) but in Japan, cherry trees line streets and are common in parks.
It’s a Japanese rite of spring to travel to parks and boulevards filled with sakura to drink sake, sip tea and hang with friends during what’s known as hanami, “flower viewing”. This ancient rite of spring is a way to celebrate the end of winter and to rejoice in one of Japan’s national symbols, the cherry blossom.
Hanami is an old tradition which is hugely popular. Everyone enjoys hanami in their own way, but most hanami-goers can be put in two categories: those who go to silently contemplate the drifting pink petals and those who bring their stereos, a barrel of sake and as many friends as can sit on a tarp. The latter mostly adhere to the popular adage, “hana yori dango“, translated as “dumplings over flowers”, alluding to the preference of eating dumplings over admiring the flowers.
Hanami is such a big deal in Japan, it continues into the night, when it’s then called “yozakura“, night viewing. I have yet to experience yozakura, but who knows? Maybe this year is my year to see cherry blossoms under the stars.
© The Anime Blog
Personally, I enjoy both sides of hanami. I like to stroll through MoBot’s Japanese Garden, sit in the mossy alcove by myself and imagine I can hear the sound the petals make as they drop. Then I’ll go home, call my friends, pack a lunch and hightail it to a park to giggle like schoolgirls in the slow warmth of the new season.
There’s much to be enjoyed during hanami and even if you don’t have a groove of cherry trees handy, you can still celebrate hanami by enjoying a picnic under some dogwoods or other local blooming trees. The spirit of hanami is to have fun, relax, and reflect on the beauty of the season. Create your own hanami this year!
If anyone’s interested in reading more about hanami or in a recipe for one of the star confections of the season, hanami dango, check out my article on Sauce magazine’s website! The article includes a recipe for delicious hanami dango in the right side bar!
*Note: The ingredients which have an odd symbol in front followed by “1/2″ should be noted as being “1/2″.
Night viewing…x.x That’s when all the horny teenagers come out.
I heard the sakura started in southern Honshu already. Smug southerners. I’m guessing that towards the beginnings of May I can see them.
@ Caitlin, I doubt here in the US there’re any horny teen romantic enough to make out under cherry blossoms. Losers. We won’t be seeing cherry blossoms for another 10 days here in St. Louis , and even then we’ll have to throw down $8 for the privilege. It’s worth it, or if a St. Louis City or County resident were to go on a Wed. or Sat. before 12:00 it’s free. *hint towards any St. Louis readers.
I wish blogs allow posting not only pictures but also aroma… Hmm… I know they do sell Fuji air in cans, so maybe they already do sell sakura aroma in cans too. If not, hey this is a new business opportunity!
$8 to see? Are you a homeowner? Get your own cherry trees! My mom’s in the process of doing that, but then she’s also building a rock garden off our tea room. x.x We like to freak the neighbors out.
I think we’re about the same latitude but my geography is awful. Maybe this means we’ll get them earlier this year. ^_^
@Caitlin, nope, we’re stone cold renters ^^. When we do settle down, I’ll definitely fill my yard with flowering trees. But for now, I know many people who,
A. Are homeowners
B. Have cherry trees
C. Celebrate hanami
We’ll see whose hanami I can crash this year (>o< )b
If you take pictures this year, please post a comment so we can see ‘em on your site when you put them up! I love looking at cherry blossoms!