And of course, it depends on the location too. The sakura can bloom at a different time each year, depending on the weather and other conditions that year. The only problem is, nobody knows for sure! Since the sakura is such a big deal in Japan, it’s natural that everybody wants to know when it will bloom. Sakura zensen means cherry blossom front. You may also hear hanami referred to as ohanami, which is a more respectful term. The most popular hanami spots are in great demand! Sometimes people camp out overnight to secure the perfect picnic spot for their party! ![]() Groups of friends, families, workplaces and so on all organise their own hanami parties. Hanami are a huge cultural event every springtime in Japan. Hanami are a kind of party where people gather in a park beneath the cherry blossom trees and enjoy food and drinks while they admire the flowers. So literally, it means ‘flower watching’. The word is made of two kanji: 花 ( hana) which means flower, and 見 ( mi) which means watch or view. Hanami is a cherry blossom viewing event. Perhaps because they bloom when it is still too cold to enjoy hanami? Hanami (花見) I’m not sure why ume aren’t as widely celebrated. In my opinion, ume are just as beautiful as sakura. They are the first flower to bloom in spring in Japan. These flowers bloom earlier, while it’s still cold. Ume (梅)Īlthough sakura are the most famous spring flower, if you are in Japan in February or March, you might catch a glimpse of the cherry blossom’s early blooming sister – ume, or plum blossom. Because of this, they are seen as a symbol of the transience of life. The sakura burst into bloom usually in late March or early April, but the delicate flowers last only for around two weeks. They represent new beginnings and the end of the long cold winter. ![]() ![]() The beautiful, pale pink cherry blossom flowers are the most famous sign of spring in Japan!Įveryone loves to celebrate the sakura season. (Sept.Want to learn how to read Japanese? Download your free hiragana and katakana workbook here! Sakura (桜) Hartung's watercolors combine areas of finer draftsmanship with simple washes in the artist's hands, the landscape becomes a series of meditative images. Mannis's haiku act as both a guide to some of the elements of traditional Japanese culture and a useful introduction to the haiku form. The last spread shows the entire garden, revealing the girl's progression through it. Little birds and a saucy cat accompany the girl through gently tinted, sweetly stylized paintings. As she admires bonsai ("a miniature forest"), views a pagoda (with its "five roofs stretch to heaven") and drinks tea in a teahouse, the artist fills in details that trace her pathway before the girl lies down beside a lotus-covered pond: "What do flowers dream?/ Adrift on eight pond pillows,/ pink-cheeked blossoms rest." Notes in smaller type below offer more information (lotus blossoms "represent purity and mirror the soul's ability to reach beyond muddy waters to the sunlight of a better existence"). The girl reaches for a drifting maple leaf in the first spread ("One leaf rides the wind./ Quick as I am, it's quicker!/ Just beyond my grasp") and Hartung ( Dear Juno) places her squarely at the garden's entrance. The book's elegantly spare design fits its Zen-influenced theme: a watercolor on the left, framed in a white border, faces a haiku on the right. A Japanese girl in a rust-colored kimono tours a temple garden and counts its fixtures one to 10, accompanied by newcomer Mannis's haiku poetry.
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