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Late March to early April in Japan is cherry blossom season, symbolic of the brevity but intense beauty of life. The fragile blossoms only last about a week or two long before falling. Japanese Vocab mankai: full bloom
sakura: cherry blossoms, symbol of springtime in Japan
saku/saiteru: to bloom/are in bloom
~jo: added to the end of a name, meaning ~ Castle (wakayamajo = wakayama castle)
~tera/dera: suffix added to a name, meaning it is a Buddhist temple (Kimiidera = Kimii Temple)
hanami: going to picnic under the sakura trees, not only for the sake of enjoying their natural beauty, but also to consume food
and alcoholic beverage, often resulting in public drunken revalry and general rowdiness (at least, that's the ideal)
It's that time of year! The birds are singing and the bees are buzzing! Well, at least they should be...but it's actually kind of rainy and muggy, and in lieu of the bees and birds the mechanic whirring of cicadas can be heard with the coming dusk...sigh...it's definitely not California, BUT what it lacks in temerate climate, it makes up for with the seasonal and spectacular appearance of the cherry blossoms, or
sakura.
For those
Mankai
full bloom of you who think that seasonal blossoming is one of life's simple pleasures, to be enjoyed sporadically as you happen to pass by a blooming tree on your way to someplace else, think again! In Japan, sakura season is a BIG DEAL and the cherry blossom spots
are the destination. And just in case your internal sakura radar (everyone in Japan is born with one...) is a bit off, you can just check the sakura forecast webpage, which is attached to the weather page on yahoo.co.jp. It will predict when the sakura will begin to bloom and tell you in which locations are the sakura in
mankai, or full bloom- the peak of their glory! But alas, it will also tell you when you are TOO LATE...for the mankai window of opportunity is short...probably only about a week of full bloom before the petals begin to fall. Once they leave the tree, these fallen petals are referred to as
ochiba, falling leaves/petals.
And you don't simply pass by the trees and appreciate their beauty. You gather your friends, coworkers or family members, pack up the car with sake, beer and food, dig up your trusty blue tarp and head
Negoro temple
in the nearby city of Iwade to the nearest temple or castle that is well known for it's sakura trees. You stake out a spot, secure your tarp and while away the hours by drinking yourself to oblivion, gorging yourself on food (either that you bring picnic style or bbq, or that you buy from local food stalls set up for the occasion), and chillin under the blossoms...at least that's the ideal. But most people don't get that crazy...but their picnic/bbq can get pretty elaborate! Some people come for lunch, but those who come to dine under that blossoms (often co-workers) stake out spots early and have someone wait for them to save the spot. The often BBQ and have plenty of beer. To facilitate the party, many places light up their trees at night.
But joking aside, sakura season is truly a beautiful and happy time. For one, it happens during spring break, but also, full bloom is just not done justice by pictures. There's something that feels very special about it, just relaxing in a grove of blooming cherry trees. We dedicated a whole weekend just to the sakura and luckily managed to miss a lot of the major crowds.
We started
off with a late lunch at Negoro temple in Iwade, the city next door. It was so beautiful, and the weather actually cleared up for the occasion. We spent 3 or 4 hours just relaxing and picnicking under the trees. But since it was local, we kept seeing lots of students and teachers...which is pretty much unavoidable when you're within a 20 mile radius of your town.
The next day we were joined by some friends from the middle and south of Wakayama, Tony, Sarah, Ryan and Laura, and all went to Wakayama city and picnicked in the gardens at Wakayamajo (wakayama castle). Our next stop of the day was another temple in the city called Kimiidera...it has a crazy stair climb, but you're well rewarded with the views from the top. Our last stop of the day was in another town about 40 minutes away called Koyaguchi for the light up in a local park. It was absolutely beautiful. The park itself is on the slope and peak of a grassy hill and is covered with sakura trees. Looking at it from a distance was like looking at a magical little fairy town. All the trees were in
full bloom and lit up by strings of lights. Sigh...it was really beautiful.
Our last day of the Sakura Pilgrimage kept us a little more local. We went to Zach's town and visited Nagata Kannon, which is a really cute small temple. From there we walked to the much larger Kokawadera, Kokawa temple, where more sakura were waiting in full force. Since there were quite a few people there, we took our hanami elsewhere and bought
obento, box lunches, from a local shop and walked to a nearby picnic area next to a road lined with sakura...and that was the conclusion to our sakura weekend. From their we went bowling and played some pool, cut Zach's hair and watched the Labyrinth. David Bowie- the perfect ending to a perfect weekend 😉
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