Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) in a Tokyo Park

Spring is wonderful in Japan. After the cold, damp Winter, one day the wind changes and light and warmth return. Thousands of cherry trees sense the change in weather and break out in celebratory blossoms all across Japan. On the weekends, people flood out of their houses and into parks for Hanami (flower viewing). Basically, they have a picnic under the trees along with copious amounts of alcohol. You have to be quick or you'll miss the opportunity for a Hanami. The Cherry blossoms cling to the trees for about ten days, and usually there are just a couple days when they are declared to be at their fullest and best. After that they begin to fall off like a fine snow in the breeze or weighed down by Spring rain.

These Hanami pictures capture some of the sights that we saw last weekend. We went to Shakujikoen, a fairly well known park along the Seibu-Ikebukuro line. The most famous parks are wall-to-wall people, and sometimes you can barely even walk between them. Although it's not exactly a "nature experience," a Hanami is a great people viewing experience. It's one of the few times that you see whole families out together. My only regret is that scenes like this aren't repeated more often.

I'll be posting cherry blossom pictures during the next few days. Then I have some exciting plans for this blog for the rest of the Spring, so please bookmark this sight and come back for more soon.

Please go to my Hanami gallery (click here) for descriptions of all the pictures above.

Posted by jw at April 4, 2004 02:34 PM