Spring is the time of year when everything comes back to life! The flowers start blooming, the trees produce leaves, the animals come out, and love is in the air!
I love spring, and in Japan, spring brings the hanami!
I’ve talked about this before, but I can’t ever get enough of it. Hanami, directly translated means flower viewing, is a time when nearly everyone goes to parks and special places to view the sakura, or Japanese cherry tree, blossoms. This isn’t any typical cherry tree, as it doesn’t produce any edible fruit. It’s only claim to fame is the beautiful flowers, and the petal showers that come with it at the end of the one to two week season.
You see, the sakura flowers are different from most flowers. The petals fall off before wilting, so when they fall, it creates a beautiful pink and white rain. As the season progresses, you get streets and sidewalks of flower petals. It is a very romantic sight.
In traditional Japanese fashion, I also had a hanami party this year. I actually stayed up all night last Saturday preparing food for our picnic. On Sunday morning, my friend, girlfriend, and her friend, all met at my apartment, and we went rock climbing at a local gym. After that, we went to the park after collecting everything for the picnic. There were hundreds, if not a few thousand, people there. The weather was the perfect and my food was delicious. Everyone had a blast.
I love this season!
For a future post, I’m really looking forward to next month. My girlfriend and I have planned a trip to Bali. I’m really excited about being on the beaches, eating cheap food, and enjoying a private villa with her. This will officially be the cheapest vacation I’ve every taken, and yet, from what I can tell beforehand, the most luxurious. I’ll fill you in with details next month.
On a side note, I have a couple projects that I’m working on that I’ll fill you in more on as they develop.
I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all!
Comment request: If you have any specific questions about my time in Japan, please leave them in the comments. This is part of one of the projects I’m working on, so I would be happy to hear your questions. The more thought out and specific the better!