THROUGHOUT the world, the transition from winter to spring is celebrated annually in rituals ranging from Easter parades in the West to cherry-blossom viewing in parts of the East. For almost 2,000 years now the traditional J apanese rite has been to celebrate the brief appearance of their favorite flower, the sakura.
Along with the plum, pine, and bamboo, the cherry blossom has been completely assimilated into the life of the Japanese people, from art to literature to hanami. Hanami is the name given to the cherry-blossom-viewing parties that begin in southern Kyushu and continue
northward through the archipelago as warm weather ushers in spring. The pale, perfectly
formed cherry blossoms last only a week or so. For the Japanese they are synonymous with the transitory nature of life itself and the brief durationof youthful beauty.
Like the rose in the European Middle Ages, the sakura was claimed initially by Japan's privileged classes. Early Japanese emperors led courtiers, warriors, and royalty in selecting viewing sites where poets and artists entertained the assembled guests with artistic celebrations of the cherry blossoms' fragile beauty. The traditional hanami of the upper classes appear to have reached their zenith in 1598, when Hideyoshi the Regent gave his famous Daigo no Hanami near Kyoto. Hideyoshi had invited all the powerful daimyo of the land to what was to be his last blossom-viewing party. That same year he died, and with him an era disappeared. With the coming of the Tokugawa Shogunate under leyasu, many of the customs followed by Japan's privileged classes were democratized.
Hanami were no exception to this general trend. Generally, the more refined viewing of earlier times was replaced by an emphasis on eating, drinking, dancing, singing, and general merrymaking. In popular literature from poetry to kabuki plays, the sakura and hanami were frequent themes. Artists, too, were inspired by blossom-viewing. In ukiyo-e, for example, it is clear that hanami had become an integral part of the life and manners of the common people.
image from:blog.travelpapa.com
image from:blog.travelpapa.com
While no two blossom-viewing parties are alike, most include the same activities that were begun during the Genroku era. Once they have located a suitable tree, jubilant groups of people sit down under the blossoms and begin their feast. Hours later, drowsy from singing, dancing, and consuming sake and ben to (lunches), they return home on trains and hired buses.
In Japan, as in other countries, the spring flower-viewing has always included an important symbolic note: the annual rebirth of nature's growing season. For Christian countries, at least, the key spring ritual, Easter, has religious roots. For the Christian it is the Easter lily that expresses the joy of spring. Other traditions associated with spring are not as filled with historical and cultural meaning. Many people head for nature trails and wilderness
areas to view spring tree buds and wildflowers. Some wear new, bright-colored clothing in
annual parades. And still more put away the winter sports equipment to make room for
spring's recreational pursuits.
These days baseball, tennis, golf, and track and field have almost surpassed Easter and
hanami in popularity. Nonetheless, few Japanese would miss April's blossom-viewing. For
no other event can take them back so completely to their historical, cultural, social, and
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