Hare Tokidoki Kumori (Sunny with a Few Clouds): Sakura, Sakura, Sakura!

When people think of Japan - one of the most commonly pictured images (after sushi and ninjas) is cherry blossoms (sakura). I remember enjoying cherry blossom season when I lived in Washington DC. There were tons of trees around the tidal basin (that Japan had gifted to the US) and people came from all over to see them! Little did I know that six years later I would be experiencing true sakura viewing Japan-style!

Sakura season here is exactly that...a season! Beginning in late February - signs advertising the blooms begin popping up around town and on subways. Then, sakura-flavored everything began to fill the shelves...coffee drinks, kit kats, cookies, crackers, mochi, you name it - they have it! The news and various websites begin to forecast when the sakura will be in "full bloom" in various areas of Japan. Full bloom was slotted to be a bit earlier in Nagoya this year - but some cold and windy weather pushed the date back about a week. Slowly sakura blooms began to pop up around Japan...and hanami party planning begins.

Hanami is the Japanese word that means "cherry blossom viewing." People flock to parks, gardens, and anywhere they can find sakura to picnic and hanami. It is very common to set up a blue tarp under the trees and picnic (so much eating and drinking) from morning until night. The parks get crowded - and so people often set their tarps up at 4am to hold their spots. At night, the sakura are often lit up - so the parties can continue into the wee hours of the morning. These parties don't just happen on the weekends...they happen for about two weeks straight. When I was looking up information about hanami - I actually found several websites that tell you how to party/picnic. Here's the link if you're curious.

http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/1202_sakurahanami.html

Not wanting to miss "peak" - I did a bit of research about the best places to view the blossoms in the Nagoya area. I even visited several of the areas before the trees bloomed - so I could truly appreciate what full bloom looked like! After scoping out a few places - we decided that we'd spend our Saturday "hanami-ing" at the botanical gardens. Our friends and fellow Cincinnatians, the Bauer's, joined us for the party.

We're #3 in line!

Wanting to make sure we got a spot - and not entirely sure what to expect - Kaz and I arrived at the botanical gardens around 8:15am (after securing many pastries, coffee drinks, and juices). The gardens didn't open until 9am - and we were happy to be the third people in line. Once the park opened - we were able to secure our picnic spot and take some great pictures before the park filled with people. Then, we spent the day sitting on a blanket, eating, talking, playing card games, and enjoying the blooms and people watching. The park closed around 4:30pm - so that's when we wrapped up our party. We were planning to head down to the river to experience "nighttime sakura" but the temperature dropped and we decided that we had to save some aspect of hanami for next year!

As I write this blog, most of the trees are losing their blossoms. It's windy today - and when the wind blows - the sakuras "snow" and people walking by get surrounded by petals as they flutter to the ground. It's about as beautiful as the trees in full bloom!

Here are some pictures of the sakura in different stages and in different places around the Nagoya area! The pictures don't do the beauty justice - though I hope you can still enjoy!

Himeji Castle