Cherry Blossoms

Many of you have heard of the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms in Japan, and may have seen some pictures. I don't really think you can understand the enormity of it until you come here and experience it for yourself. When I first heard the phrase, 'Cherry Blossom Viewing', I imagined people standing around taking a quick look at one or two trees in their gardens. The reality is quite different! Cherry Blossom viewing in Japan is a National event, and has much significance to the people. The weather report has a special section reserved just for the 'Blossom Report', where they tell us when and where they will bloom. The first blossom of the season in Kyushuu is watched closely and reported with great anticipation on the news. Once that happens, the count-down is on as they start to bloom progressively North up the Country.
Once they bloom people take their blue ground sheets and mark their spots under the trees for their viewing picnics. It is common for them to have a BBQ under the trees until late in the evening so they can enjoy 'Yo-Zakura', night viewing, too. There are many places that hold festivals around this time, and most people look forward to it as the first chance to get outside and enjoy nature since the long winter began months before. The trees are usually planted close together filling a garden, or lining a street. In our area there are so many places to go to walk or picnic under them, that I can never see them all in one season, even though I usually go everyday for that week.
The Cherry Blossoms have great significance and sentimentality for the Japanese people. Their blossoms are stunning and only last for one week before falling graciously to the ground, signifying the short nature of life. Not only do they affirm the coming of Spring, but the Japanese School Entrance Ceremonies and the beginning of the working year coincide with the Cherry Blossom's Blooming, so they often represent new beginnings. There is something comforting and hopeful about the Blossoms. In my life they seem to mark the passing of time. When they bloom, I am always surprised that another year has passed, kind of like Christmas might for those back home. It is a time for old friends to get together. I always get calls from my old friends who travel out to meet me and picnic under the trees, and every year they leave with sentiments of meeting again before the next blooming...but the Cherry Blossoms always seem to bloom first.
I have often wondered why the plum was not given as much glory, but I read that in China the plum was considered more worthy of adoration, and Japan chose the Cherry. China introduced the ornamental Cherry tree to Japan in the Heian Period (794-1191), and the Lords were known to have practiced 'Hanami' (Blossom Viewing) even then. The plum blossoms in Japan are still admired, but they are more as John the Baptism was to Jesus, the messenger to the main event. The Cherry trees are purely ornamental, bearing no fruit, whereas the plum bears green fruit that the Japanese use to pickle, despite the fact that the tree is called an ornamental plum.
(Left: Plum Farm) Many songs and poems have been written about the Cherry Tree, or Sakura, and they have given this small country much joy.

Facts retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossoms