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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.

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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″.