Cherry blossom-viewing is a Japanese symbolic custom in spring. It is a way to appreciate the “sakura” cherry trees which have opened, and more often means parties under sakura trees. Even as early as in winter they start to forecast the sakura conditions of the year, and, it is around the Doll’s Festival that we hear publicly when sakura will begin to awake and get ready joyfully for an invitation to go out for a hanami party.

Sakura or Cherry Blossom is in the family of Rosaceae, a Japanese generic name for all the species in this family excepting Ume “plum” tree, the peach and the apricot, with flowers blooming distantly from branches, which makes it easy to discern from the plum or the peach. Sakura can be seen in China or the Himalayas, but Japan has the widest variety from “yamazakura” or a wild cherry tree, to many kinds of horticultural cultivars. Among the varieties, the somei-yoshino or the Yoshino Cherry, which has spread throughout Japan since the Meiji period, is now most popular to blossom viewers, as the flowers emerge before the leaves so spectacularly in full bloom, and it is also referred when the weather agency declares when the sakura has awakened. The cherry tree has amazing versatility in its usage like its wood used not only in furniture and industrial arts, but even in ship building, and, furthermore, its bark is processed to become cough medicine or used for bent craftworks, the flowers and leaves are salted for the sakura-yu (boiled water with a salted sakura leaf) and for the sakura-mochi (rice sweets covered with a sakura leaf), and the fleshy fruit cherry is served as food. It is well know that sakura is often taken up as a favorite theme in songs, poems, literature, painting, “rakugo” stories, industrial arts, Japanese traditional music and the J-pop.

This custom of hanami has its root in the Nara Period for the aristocracy to hold events of enjoying the beauty of flowers. In those days, Japan was under influence of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and they followed the custom of enjoying flowers, though it was the “ume” tree instead shortly after its introduction from China. Coming to the Heian period, they got familiar with admiring sakura and the flower cited in poems also changed from “ume” to “sakura.” During the Heian period, the word “sakura” became almost the synonym to a flower, and “Hana-no-en” (a feast of flowers) was made a routine event for admiring sakura cherry blossoms. This practice was picked up in literature like “Waka” poems or “Tale of Genji” and then became popular later to the samurai class, and, during the Edo period, common people made it their enjoyable pastime to hold “hanami” parties.

Sakura cherry trees appear more thickly rounded and flowery than plum or peach trees, maybe because of the longer flower petals. It may be but natural that we are charmed and exited at the scenery in colorful tones from pink to deep red of neighboring mountains, parks and road-side trees has all suddenly turned into uniform pink when the Yoshino Cherry trees have come into full bloom. Across the ocean in Washington D.C.,USA, people are reported enjoying “hanami” parties under the donated sakura trees.

The solar calendar adopted in the beginning of the Meiji period diminishes the linkage of seasonal events with the seasons, and the rapid technological advance in the 20th century tends to put less significance to seasonal events in the year. On the other hand, the fact is, however, that the fist day of April in Japan is the day of commencement of a new semester at schools, and the day of beginning of a new fiscal year for business circles. In major cities, they celebrate a new beginning with fresh aspiration in their mind under full-bloom sakura trees around 1st of April, as a long-rooted custom even in this modern society. It is yet an important season for Japanese people who wish for a good coming year starting in the blooming sakura blossoms this season while enjoying a hanami party in celebration with folks and stretching out a bit out of routine to visit and admire sakura blossoms in full bloom.

The ModernNipponProject Blog will share scene of sakura trees and hanami parties. Please visit and enjoy it.