Hanami

"Hanami" [花見[はなみ]] is the Japanese word meaning "flower viewing" and is also the term used to describe the traditional custom of viewing cherry blossoms (sakura) which bloom at the end of March/early April.
Hanami season means that most Japanese folk make a point of going out to see the cherry blossoms. There are posters all over the place encouraging people to get out and visit places like Kyoto which also has a scenic spots for hanami.
This year we decided to go to a place in Kanagawa called Mitsuike Park. Its a long walk from the station but its worth it. Folks who are interested in going can look up directions here.



Figma Haruhi joins in on the hanami shenanigans.
We lay out a blanket on the grass and laze in the sun while munching on snacks and reading for a few hours.
And other folks do the same too. Most are prepared with large outdoor mats.
They have a small Korean type village set up in the park.

Very nice to get away from Tokyo once in a while. But I start to itch and whip out the iPod Touch to look for a WiFi connection from time to time ^^;

Just about everybody is there with their camera.
T'was a lovely day indeed.
If you was in Japan during hanami season, would it be on your list of things to do?




I hear form other folks who went hanami that places like Shinjuku and Ueno were packed and that one had to queue just to get into the parks.
A pro hanami snapper.
While most hanami passes peacefully, some of the folk get rowdy from drinking too much and cause trouble for other hanami spectators - usually happens at night though.
Many places set up lights to illuminate the cherry blossoms at night.
Members Xenohawk, Neil Duckett and Ninja Mari have some nice pics of their hanami sessions.

Didnt see any cherry blossoms in my 27 years in London but was suprised to see that Seattle had a load of them everywhere. Do you have cherry blossoms in your region too?







And this is for those of you who nearly fell asleep by looking at all the cherry blossoms - she's Risa Shimamoto and you can see more pics of her that I snapped a while ago in this article.


View results for the following poll on this post
Hanami on your list of things to do in Japan?

1. Yes
2. No

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