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April 03, 2001

Sakura drops

Sunday - I didn't make it all the way to Yoyogi park, though it would have been nice to see the freaks out in force next to Harajuku Station. But I did make it as far as wandering into Higashi Nakano to get lunch / breakfast. It's never easy to know what to call the first meal of the day when it happens at 2pm. Brunch is already taken... how about lekfast? Aaanyway.

A quick word about cherry blossoms - sakura, in Japanese. As mentioned below, they have special significance for the Japanese, who see in them a reminder of the transient nature of life. We are born, bloom, and then fall off trees and get trampled on by drunken salarymen on their office hanami (cherry-blossom-viewing) outing.... or something.

In the weeks before and during the sakura season, the TV weather bulletins slavishly forecast and report on the sakura's progression across and up the country - sometimes even to the extent of not bothering to report the actual weather. Look at the pretty pink flowers! They bloom first in Okinawa and the warmer southern prefectures, and then spread across and up the length of the country over the next few weeks, typically hitting Tokyo in late March each year.

These days I live in Shinjuku, which is pretty much the centre of urban Tokyo. Luckily, my flat is in a quiet little neighbourhood next to the Kanda River, the length of which has been planted with cherry trees. So for the last week or so I've been able to walk along the river on my way to the station, underneath a canopy of gentle pink and white, watching falling blossoms borne on the pleasantly-cooling breeze and marvelling at the transient nature of life... when I'm not thinking about sex, of course.

Posted by chris at April 3, 2001 12:56 PM | Permalink

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