Spring in Japan means Sakura blossom and O-hanami
Everyone thinks of Tokyo as being bustle and business, and while it is, it certainly has some beautiful sights, and spring is one of the best times to be in Tokyo. Unless of course you suffer from allergy to the Cedar like me
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The Sakura or cherry blossom is almost synonymous with Japan, its part of the calendar, and influences that art and traditional dress. In spring, we can suddenly see this tree explode in flowers, standing out from all the other trees around it. Its easy to forget in the parks that that's Shinjuku just over there (where that building is jutting up) |
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Japanese love their sakura, and line their parks and avenues with it so that when Spring comes, they can revel in the explosion of colour and petals. But I never did develop a taste for oden the boiled (for how many weeks?) fish cakes and konyaku.
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If you're like me, you've seen pictures like those above, and wondered what the flowers look like. So lets stick our nose into it and have a look at the cluster of small flowers. Depending on your monitor settings, this is about real life size, each flower petal is a bit bigger than a centimeter. |
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At O-hanami, everyone grabs a ground sheet, or tatemi and a gallon of Sake and heads for the nearest park to sit under the trees, and look up at the flowers, and just mellow out. It seems strange that these are the same Tokyo-jin that I rub shoulders with every day. As I mentioned, there is also a little drinking go on at this time, and if you hang about till the late hours of the night, you'll see the usual side effects, and different "blossom" on the ground. I'll save that for another page.... |
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In Yoyogi Koen there is also a small plot of other Japanese wild flowers growin, the Nanohana. These are in bloom at the same time, and nicely contrast the more subtle colours of the Sakura |
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In among the Nanohana are penpengusa, which are a source of natural toys for children. People strip the leaves and flowers off and the seed pods rattle nicely when twirled. |
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If you take the time to look further about the park, you'll find that the people aren't the only ones taking in the sights of the Sakura blossom. Here's a pairof Japans most colourful ducks, the oshidori. They and a few of their friends were also hanging about under the Sakura, taking in the sights, and having their own o-hanami |
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This spring we were graced with a sudden chilly wind from the North, which brought some snow ... you'd need an active imagination to spot it in this shot. Either way, the lovely pink blossom of the Sakura adds a touch of beauty to what is in many ways a bleak cityscape here in Tokyo. |
I hope you enjoyed this sample of Spring in Tokyo, and while you didn't get as good a view as me, at least you didn't get the hayfever!
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