The magic of cherry blossoms in Japan

There is something magical about Sakura (cherry blossom) season in Japan.
The origins of the magic go back many years in history to the early 700s. In Japanese culture these blossoms have been linked to “the cycle of life, death and rebirth, on the one hand, and of productive and reproductive powers, on the other”. Click here for a more in-depth analysis of the history of cherry blossoms in Japan.

Here in Japan you can actually feel the anticipation growing. As Shelley and I bicycled around the city all fall and winter we noticed where there were concentrations of cherry trees. We catalogued those areas in our minds to make sure we revisited them during the peak blossom time. 

My ride to school is mainly along the Zen Pu Kuji river, a river lined with cherry trees. In early March every day as I bicycled through the cold and the early morning darkness I would check out the trees and buds to see whether there was any progress towards blossoms. 

There is even a web-site here in Japan that tracks the progress of the blossoms just in case you want to book a trip to see the earlier blossoms down South. Click here for that info.

And finally that day arrives... the blossoms begin bursting. Word flies around quickly where the first blooms in Tokyo can be found. (This year it was just outside the gate of the Imperial Palace).

Then, hooray... they began appearing on my commute:

Suddenly I found way more people out along the river during my early morning commute. More than the usual intense runners and fitness walkers, I began seeing couples young and old walking under the trees, holding hands, looking up at the blossoms and seeming to be quite entranced by the moment. The dog walkers (or those pushing their dogs in little prams!) seemed to be chattier with other dog owners than usual.

As the day progresses, more and more people come out to enjoy the blossoms and each others" company. All around Japan this builds up to a crescendo of Hanami, Hanami is a social gathering with office mates, family members, friends that involves lots of food, lots of drinks and lots of talk and laughter. It is quite an amazing site to see as we ride by with our bikes.

Check for the blue tarps on the ground and that is always the clue of up-coming Hanami at  that spot. This morning people were getting their tarps out at 7:30 AM when I rode by.

From the few scattered tarps the pace builds up to more tarps... and people...

Until by evening time it is packed!!!!

To fully experience the power of the sakura, its effect on people and joy of Hanami last weekend I rode to one of the famous rives, the Megura, where the banks of the river are lined with cherry trees for several kilometres. This area is a magnet for Hanami and strollers.

It was crowded with strolling couples, photographers and families enjoying the blossoms. There were so many people that every intersection had 4 security guards to ensure that pedestrians would not block car traffic.

All of the trees were laden with blossoms... the perfect weekend to see them. 

 Just for evidence here is a selfie. If the Pope can do it...

The whole river was lined with lanterns to provide the beautiful evening light for the strollers.

Along with the lights, the river was lined with little booths that provided all kinds of easy snacks and tasty goodies to nibble on as you walked and... only in Japan, champagne glasses (yes, made out of glass) filled with champagne and fresh strawberries that you could stroll down the river with to help your enjoyment. You just returned the glass to your booth for a deposit. Pretty pleasant, eh? 

Our great DD program assistant organized our very own DD/ English department Hanami for those of us who could come to bring this celebration to our Canadian International School world. This event brought together both our Japanese colleagues and our international staff. We also had a great time laughing, telling stories, lying on the blue tarp, admiring the quickly disappearing blossoms and eating and drinking.

At one point the wind started blowing and the air was filled with gently drifting blossom petals falling in our glasses, onto our food and into our hair:

We kept having our very own cherry blossom petal storm covering all of the surfaces:

By next week the blossoms will be gone and we will be fully enjoying the gentle leaves of early spring, one of the most pleasant seasons in Tokyo.

This is a very special time of year in Japan.