Week 32: In which Japan goes wild for Sakura

The air is getting warmer, the wind less biting.

It is spring.

And before it turns green, Japan turns pink.

The blooming of the Sakura (cherry blossoms) begins and suddenly there is pink EVERYWHERE.

I love all the moats Japan has

this was just a cool temple I found.

Japan loves their Sakura.  Cherry trees have been planted all over the place.  There are cherry trees lining most railways.

biking along these are nice

So it's just a double row of fragrant pink blooms for a mile or two.

There's always at least one cherry tree in every neighborhood park. And some are COVERED in them.

the park next to my house

People go out and have picnics to enjoy the flowers. This is called Hanami.  It is only possible to Hanami this time of year.  If you go out for picnics at other times, they are not called Hanami.  

There are family groups

kids running amok

and just groups of friends/works associates

and one honest-to-goodness English tea.

I personally, leaned up against the trunk of a tree and pulled out a book and just...sat.  I took so many pictures, but there's no way to capture the petals floating through the air. The gentle fragrance of the different trees. The warm breeze, the cool grass, the whimsical patter of the petals as they fall on you.  I can definitely understand why they feel this is a requirement for spring.

Most of the time people bring their own food for Hanami, but sometimes they don't so most popular places have a "Sakura festival" which of course, means food booths.

Which, I understand, but the smell tended to overwhelm the gentle smell of the blossoms, so... I much preferred the other park I found.

Plus, the hawkers were noisy.

There are VERY popular Sakura areas, such as where I went with a group on Sunday, it's a town in the middle of nowhere, who's only real claim to fame is the hillsides of Sakura.

this was just after a big rain storm, so the petals weren't at FULL bloom anymore

still very lovely.

And so I got to Hanami!

Picnic!

I helped make the obentos! (lunch box)

Look! I was social!

And then we walked around more.

one of them designated himself our photographer.

can you spot me?

I liked the stone statues on its side. different style than you usually see

a temple we found.

this is one of the kinds of sakura

And it was a lovely day.

There are a lot of nice places in  Kyoto, some with really old trees.

And many places, in the evening will illuminate their Sakura so it's lovely in a different way!  (not the mountain we went to on Sunday. They're far enough away, they kick people out at sunset so they can get home at a decent time)

Kyoto at sunset

got this one just by chance, and I couldn't be happier.

added reflection in the water!

they look whiter under the lights.

it's like a big old cloud!

The thing is, they LOVE sakura.  You can tell spring is coming when the sakura flavored stuff starts coming out. 

Sakura flavored red-bean cakes

candy

cakes

cream puffs

sausages?

bean paste

rice balls

salted sakura blossoms

sakura ice cream

When asked what it tasted like, all I could say was it tasted like a flower.  I mean, some of you have had my lavender cookies before. It tastes kinda like that but...pink?  It's a lighter, more spring flavor.  Really hard to explain. Quite tasty, actually.

These aren't even all the pictures I took, I couldn't find them all in my album. There's also Sakura flavored beer, sake and soda.  And of course, flavored water.  I thought they had sakura flavored french-fries at McDonalds, but it turns out it was plum flavored sprinkles.

When I first heard people getting excited about Sakura, I was excited too. I mean, I had heard about  sakura before, and it turned out it was even BIGGER deal than I had previously thought. So I asked a teacher

"So when is Sakura season?"

"Oh, it's usually end of March, beginning of April"

"Exciting! So do they have a big harvest season for the cherries too?"

"....cherries?"

.....
....
...

THEY'RE ALL DECORATIVE!!

WHY?!


i wanted cherries