flowersWait, what? All this over a few flowers? Absolutely.
The very reason I chose to come to Japan in the spring was because I knew about the seriousness of the o-hanami (flower viewing) season. For hundreds of years, the cherry blossom has been something of a symbol of Japan and Japanese spirit, particularly the samurai. You won’t meet—I certainly haven’t—a person in Japan who doesn’t love the cherry blossoms. Shops, food, clothing, and every other available surface has been marked with the star-shaped flowers for the past month or longer. The front page of the paper has Japan winning the world baseball championship this year, and right next to that story? Full blossom!
It’s an easy fever to catch. They’re beautiful, like pink and white clouds over the trees, after all.
The news has been covering the same trees for months. If they fail to report on the status of the blossoms, like they did last year, the country goes into outrage. People plan their lives around this one week, canceling appointments and rushing to call their friends for a last-minute party as soon as word comes in that the flowers are finally out.
When blossoms hit full-bloom, the parks with many trees suddenly fill with people and plastic tarps setting up to spend a full day just sitting under the trees, socializing, drinking, and enjoying the festivities. At night, the lanterns go up, and the drunks get rowdy. The crowds don’t vanish until last train. It’s pretty amazing. Ueno Park and the Imperial Palace area are the most popular sites in Tokyo for people to go and see them.
We’re having our own o-hanami party tomorrow night, since full blossom began yesterday. Friday is the biggest night for the parties. The crowds will be worse than Disney Land. We’ve selected Ueno Park, which is well-located for snagging food and drinks, and late-night karaoke if we get antsy. Like everyone else, we’ll have to go early and stake out a spot, but from there we’ll be winging it. Wish me luck!
