Hanami -- The Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan

Manasi Bandyopadhyay ( Chakrabarti )

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan is a wonderful flower festival that dates back to 1912 .  Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo gifted  3,000 cherry trees  to the city of Washington, DC. as a token of friendship between Japan and USA. From then onwards, this annual celebration  honours the lasting friendship  and the continued close relationship between the two countries.

According to Japan Meteorological Corporation,  cherry blossoms  may bloom early this year. Every year, Japan’s first cherry blossoms appear in Okinawa (southern Japan) then move northwards to Hokkaido by early May.

The average time for appearing cherry blossom may vary depending on the weather conditions.

This year, it has been predicated that sakura will start to bloom as usual in Okinawa and cherry blossom festivals are scheduled to be held at different spots between January 27, 2018 and May 12, 2018. 

Okinawa is a place of picture-perfect blue ocean, white sandy beaches and cherry blossoms.

Fuji Five Lakes  area,  Fujigoko,  is a renowned tourist destination  lies at the northern base of Mount Fuji and comprises five distinct beautiful lakes: Kawaguchiko, Yamanakako, Motosuko, Saiko, and Shojiko. The area is designated as a perfect place to view Mount Fuji from a close distance. The cherry blossom of Fujigoko start to bloom in early April and reach to their peak around mid April. 

In japanese culture, Cherry Blossom festival is called  Hanami . Hanami means the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers.

Here hana (flower) is always refered to the Sakura -- Cherry Blossoms  

The  hanami is an ancient custom of Japan which is said to have started during the Nara period (710–794). At that time it was limited to Royal family and Aristocrats.

In Nara period, hanami was related to ume blossoms . By the Heian period (794–1185), sakura or cherry blossom came to attract more attention and hanami became synonymous with sakura. From then onwards, in both waka and haiku, "flowers" started to mean  sakura.

Sakura originally was used to divine that year's harvest as well as announce the rice-planting season. And as Japanese  believed in kami - spirits inside the trees - they made offerings. Afterwards, they partook of the offering with saké -  the wine made from fermented rice

Today, japanese people , following the tradition of hanami, gather in great numbers wherever the flowering trees are found. Hundreds  of people go to the parks to hold feasts under the flowering trees, and sometimes these become late night parties. Late Night  Hanami is   called Yozakura or     night sakura.   In many places like Ueno Park , temporary   paper lanterns are  hung    for   the purpose of yozakura. On  the island of Okinawa,  decorative electric lanterns are hung in the  trees  for  evening  enjoyment,  such  as  on  the trees ascending Mt. Yae, near Motobu Town, or at the Nakijin Castle.

 In more than half of Japan, the cherry blossoming days come at the same time as the beginning of school and work after vacation, and so welcoming parties are often opened with hanami. Usually, people  celebrate hanami with friends, family, and company coworkers many hours or even days before. 

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