Sakura 桜

---

Spring has sprung and the blossoms have bloomed!!! Sakura or cherry blossoms are practically the symbol of Japan and for good reason. They’re absolutely beautiful. This year I celebrated in the exact same places I did the year before, on Sunday at Marugame Castle with the Grasshopper crew and then on Monday at Ritsurin Koen. Two hanami picnics in two days, isn’t life grand? ^_^ The one at the castle was a huge party of mainly foreigners (much to the surprise of the local population I’m sure) from all over Kagawa prefecture and quite a few from Ehime prefecture too. We ate and drank all afternoon. We ate the food that everyone brought to share and food from the yatai (festival stalls) too. One of my favorite things about festivals in Japan is the yatai. Colorfully decorated, filed with food, games or toys. It’s only during festivals that I can find certain foods like grilled octopus on a stick. Yum, yum, yum! After dark we stayed until it got too chilly and then headed over to the Grasshopper to celebrate some more. We got well and properly toasted. =) The next day Simon and I went to Takamatsu to look at the blossoms there and eat lunch. We brought some bentos with us and then I bought some delicious mochi(sticky sweet rice) & custard covered strawberries at a yatai(food stall). One interesting thing about sakura is that they make such a beautiful pink cloud, but when you get close to an individual blossom, they aren’t that pink. They are much nearer in color to white. Their texture isn’t soft, but stiff like tissue paper. Amazing trees. Since I’m not planning on being here this time next year I’m doing my best to get in all the hanami time I can in Kagawa.

---