お花見 Cherry Blossom Viewing

Possibly the most anticipated event of the Japanese calendar has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

My student who is a Buddhist monk tried to explain the significance of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture; their fleeting opening and falling to the ground reminds us that life is short, yet beautiful. The flowers remind us to enjoy life and beautiful nature.

So in the spirit of the season (my third in Japan! Blimey!) I managed to squeeze in no less than three cherry blossom viewing events (known as o-hanami) into my busy schedule!!

• On the Sunday, the first hanami was my own Marshall English School's party, and students coming along meant lots of amazing home-cooked food!!! I myself prepared cold clam pasta, which seemed to go down pretty well!

 

Delicious rice balls and .. take-away pizza (!?)

 My boss opens up some champagne!

 With some of my students

• The following day on Monday I went on a bike ride before my afternoon classes along Meguro River, one of the most famous viewing spots in Tokyo and only about 3 minutes from my place, on an unseasonally hot day with my cowoker, Tom.

 So beautiful!!

 All dressed up to see the blossoms in suits and kimonos!

 We went exploring and stumbled upon this gorgeous hidden Japanese garden in Hiroo city

• By Wednesday the petals were already falling, and the white sakura near Toshi's house looked just like snow!

 Snowy-sakura!

Then we went on a drive (as we do) to a park with reportedly 40,000 cherry blossom trees near Tokorozawa City, though regrettably it was raining so I didn't get any decent pictures..


Coming up.. in 3 days is the start of my 9-day long Golden Week holiday!! I can't wait!
Toshi and I are planning 2 days camping, 3 days with the family in Osaka including a family vacation to Awaji Island for some sightseeing :D

The Aftermath- Days 2 and 3

I spent the first 24 hours after the 'big one' alone in my apartment, I was relieved when I finally got in contact with everyone I knew, and the phone lines became less clogged.

It was so hard to relax, the paranoia coming from the news, the aftershocks coming every 5 minutes or so, but I was very greatful for the contact and support everyone gave through facebook and other means.

Here's a demonstration of a little aftershock, smaller than the one I experienced in Nottingham in 2008:

 

 No, I haven't put away my christmas tree yet

People have been mass-buying food and as a result, the supermarket and convenience store shelves are empty, like a scene from an apocalyptic movie!

No bread, meat or rice.

A novel shower method; no hot water.

Today I finally got out of the house, and had a picnic with some friends under plum blossom trees.

Aeon was closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but I will be going to my Japanese school on Monday for my classes.  Looks like Tokyo's starting to get back to normal.

Just to make sure my family have some perspective, Sendai (the closest city to the epicentre) and the nuclear plants are far north of Tokyo, so the tsunami pictures you're seeing were taken far from Tokyo.

Source: BBC

The next issue over the coming days will be the 3-hour scheduled power outages in Tokyo to conserve electricity. I have two torches, and I'll make sure it's a productive time. Let's hope it doesn't affect Aeon.

Hanami.. and me!

It's Cherry Blossom season! The Sakura 桜 flower is Japan's national flower, and it is, for lack of a better phrase, a really big deal in Japan.
My students started talking about the coming of Spring and the blooming of the sakura all the way back in January.

I have compiled a few reasons as to the importance of this flower.

• The blossoms last only a week or so. The transient nature of the flowers symbolize the delicacy of our lives and death, and remind us not to take our lives for granted.
• The flowers face not upwards towards the Sun, but downwards towards us.
• The cherry blossoms bloom at the start of the Japanese academic year, and thus remind the Japanese of their youth and school-aged days.
• The pale pink cherry blossoms symbolise youth and love.

The sakura blossom is a popular design, and can be found on the 100yen coin, clothing, man hole covers, toilet paper- you name it!!

Cherry Blossom Viewing Parties, or hanami 花見 are a picnic held under a cherry blossom tree. The most famous parks, including Ueno Park, can get extremely crowded and crammed with drunk young Japanese men climbing on the trees and singing obnoxiously loud karaoke. Fortunately, I managed to avoid such rowdy places!!

Night-time Hanami with some students Saturday night in Hikarigaoka Park

It was very cold, but very enjoyable!!!

The mountains of beer at the supermarket, and posing with the Sakura.

 Inokashira Park, Kichijouji, West Tokyo on Sunday afternoon