Sunday, April 4, 2010

Did you know in April...

... it happens the HANAMI Cherry blossom viewing?

Hanami is the
Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (Sakura), or ume blossoms. From mid January to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan. In modern-day Japan, hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. Hanami at night is called yozakura.
Sakura originally was used to divine that year's
harvest as well as announce the rice-planting season. People believed in kami (God) inside the trees and made offerings. Afterwards, they partook of the offering with sake.
Emperor Saga of the Heian Period adopted this practice, and held flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan.




So don’t miss the chance to enjoy this wonderful season in Japan!

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