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Japanese Cherry Blossom

The beauty of Japanese cherry blossom, sakura in Japanese, is an undisupted truth.

It is often described as the national flower of Japan and Japanese people will constantly recommend that you visit Tokyo, or other areas, during this season.

When Is The Sakura Season?

Japanese people believe the Japanese cherry blossom captures and defines all that is vulnerable about being human. The sakura season gives us a timely reminder, once a year, that life is fleeting and time is precious.

This is a time to take stock and evaluate what you have achieved, and what you are going to do next, on your own life path. In essence, the cherry blossom cycle is seen as a metaphor for life.

The trees come into bloom for a period of approximately 2 - 3 weeks, however, the blossoms are delicate and easily damaged. If the weather is kind the hanami celebrations will last the full 3 weeks, but any unseasonal rain or wind will shorten the life of the flowers, and in turn, the length of the cherry blossom festival.

In Japanese, cherry blossom festival translates as hanami festival. Just as hanabi means 'flowers of fire', hanami means 'flower viewing'.

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Recommended Hanami Festival Viewing Spots

If you want to catch the cherry blossom festival at its best, try some of the following locations in Tokyo. Just be prepared to share your space. These are popular places to celebrate the hanami festival, but it's a real chance to see just how important this season is to the Japanese.

• Sankeien - Strictly speaking this garden is not in Tokyo but in neighbouring Kanagawa. It's not far though and it's one of my favorite gardens to visit. Take the Toyoko Line to Yokohama Station. Go to the East Exit and take bus numbers 8 or 125 to Honmoku Sankeien Mae. From there, it takes about 5 minutes on foot
• Ueno Park - with over 1,000 cherry trees in the grounds, this park is about a 5 minute walk from the station. This one gets busy so get there early
• Shinjuku Gyoen - Another popular spot 10 minutes away from Shinjuku Station, New South Exit (not to be confused with the South Exit)
• Imperial Palace - See the East garden and catch glimpses of the palace through the blossoms
• Inokashira Park - Take the Inokashira Line from Shibuya to Kichijoji station and follow the signs to Inokashira Park. There's also a lovely lake full of coy carp

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Cherry Blossom Haiku

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of 3 lines. The basic rule is that the 1st and 3rd lines are 5 syllables in length, the 2nd line is 7 syllables.

Haikus need to incorporate an aspect of the seasons, so there are many poems that make reference to Japanese cherry blossom.

A couple of my favourites are below. For me, they really capture the connection between Japanese cherry blossom and a sense of time passing.

If you'd like to read some more haiku, follow the link to Sacred Texts.