🌸Cherry Blossom Festival🌸
Japan's famous cherry blossom festival season begins around the end of
March and lasts for about two weeks, depending on
location. Cherry trees can bloom until May the further north you travel,
so dedicated sakura viewers can head north to enjoy even more sakura
spotting. Sakura viewings are about eating, drinking, and coming
together to celebrate the beginning of spring. Top viewing spots include
Maruyama Park, Mount Yoshino, Himeji Castle, and Fuji Five Lakes.
Read more
here.
Cultural Importance
For many thousands of years, the act of observing sakura has been celebrated during the season of "Hanami." Hanami translates to "flower viewing" and the festival attracts locals and visitors alike that come together to celebrate the season with outdoor parties, picnics, and other events that take place night and day. It is believed that sakura viewing in Japan started in the Nara period, between 710 A.D. and 794 A.D. Traditionally, the Japanese have beleived that the cherry blossom represents the fragility and beauty of life and that every blossom is a reminder that life can be tragically short. Even today, newly emerging blossoms are considered to be a representation of hope, beauty, and new life.
Terminology to Know
- Hanami: means "flower" and "see," respectively and this word is used to refer to the cherry blossom viewing.
- Sakura: means "cherry blossom" and is derived from "saku" which means "to bloom."
- Tsubomi: means that the cherry blossom buds have started budding but have not yet bloomed.
- Mankai: this term is used to describe cherry blossom trees that are 80% but not in full bloom.
- Migoro: means the best time or the time when all flowers are in full bloom.
- Hanagasumi: used to describe the beauty of many blossoms and can translate to "flower haze."
- Sakura-Fubuki: means "cherry blossom snowstorm" when the petals fall in the breeze and appear to look like a storm.
- Hana-no-ami: means "flower rain" and is used when the rain falls on the blossoms.
- Mikkaminumanosakura: used to describe a change that happens very suddenly, like when cherry blossoms go from full bloom to scattering in a short span of time.