LD's Guide to Japan

Hanami (花見）: Literally the characters for “flower” and “look” stuck together, hanami is, according to my Japanese-English dictionary, “a cherry blossom-viewing picnic.”  That description, however, doesn’t quite properly explain the atmosphere of hanami.  Really, it’s an enormous public party that gives Japanese people an excuse to drink a LOT, all day long.  Hanami happens during this lovely time of year when the entire country of Japan, very briefly, turns pink from all the blooming sakura (桜), or cherry-blossoms.  For a few weeks it seems like the whole country has sakura-mania: they discuss every day on the news when the flowers will bloom and where, it frequently becomes the topic of everyday conversation, and there are websites that list every hanami spot in the country and tell you what percentage of the flowers are currently in bloom at each location.  It can get a little crazy, but it’s a lot of fun and the food (sold out of food stalls) is fantastic.

This year we went to the park around the old castle in Takaoka (a 40-minute-or-so train ride away), which I’m told is the most popular hanami spot in the prefecture.  We were blessed with fantastic weather for that day.  I took my ukulele, my partner-in-crime Chris brought his guitar, and we jammed the day away under the sakura.