Hanami: Retroactive Post

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've either been a bum and too lazy to put in the work of putting up all of my new pics, or out and about, and taking the damn things. But here's what I've been up to so far.

The weekend before last, signaled the start of the hanami, which is when all the sakura *cherry blossoms go into bloom and everyone goes out to enjoy them in the many parks around the cities of Japan. This is a huge deal: the news is full of stories, following the wash of pink as it flows up from the south to cover the country. The reason why its such a big deal, and why everyone goes out to see the flowers, is because its so fleeting: the blossoms only bloom when it gets warm enough and then once they bloom, they're gone with the next rain or the next day of strong winds.

I think it's great that people take the time out of their schedules to recognize the momentary beauty of these flowers and maybe reflect on the briefness of our lives. In short, it's the Japanese way of stopping and smelling the roses. Which is really important for them, since one thing that I've learned since I've gotten here, is how much of a workaholic nation Japan is. I think they value their free time a little more than we do, and it explains why they tend to drink so much and maybe do some of the crazy things we sometimes see. And why they love karaoke so much.

Anyway, on the Saturday, I went with my aunt and cousin Uichi-san to Nagoya Castle, though I'm supposed to make sure that I call it Nagoya Jo if I'm ever taking a taxi, since if I ask for Nagoya Castle, I'll get driven to a love hotel-and I'm still not sure what exactly that means, but I think I'll stay away just in case. So, here are my pics of the castle: Nagoya Jo.

Nagoya Jo is one of the largest castles in Japan. It is a famous symbol, because it was the home of one of the family lines of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate), a military dictatorship which ruled Japan from 1600 to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. I actually also visited his childhood home, Okazaki Castle, the following week. I'll post another blog for those pics later on.

Following that we headed over to Tsurumai Park, (where it snowed that one day), and ended the day celebrating in true Japanese fashion with a picnic under the trees lasting into the night. It was too cold for my cousin Uichi-san, so he went home. Meanwhile, my aunt and I are left to spread out on our little picnic mat alongside many other parties of varying sizes. We got there around 5 or so, and already, there were drunk people wandering around, especially drunk Americans.

My favorite was when one of the drunk Americans stumbled into a group of young Japanese people, and the Japanese guy that he had ran into had also been doing some drinking, and so his group happily started to chant, USA, USA! After that, he passes them and starts to head to his group, but of course the mat with me and my aunt sitting on it is in front of him. I wish that I had been able to get a picture of the look on his face, as his eyes took us in. It was hilarious, knowing that were right in front of him, but he looked as if we had appeared out of nowhere to him, because he was so drunk. Oh, funny.

Later on in the evening, there is a group of maybe four older Japanese men, Im talking 60 or so, thats got a mat next to ours. They seemed friendly and one of them asked if where we were from, since it was obvious we werent Japanese. My aunt responded saying that she was from the Philippines and that I was visiting from the US. My aunt tells me that he was surprised to find out that I was her niece, since they thought that we were just friends. They chat a bit more and give us a can of beer, which we share, to be polite. Fast-forward to when I get back from using the restroom, and my aunt tells me that the guy that had talked to her earlier had asked if wed come and join their group, but my aunt had to refuse, since we were actually waiting for her husband, my uncle.

I'm sorry if I think that this was hilarious, its just that I soooo saw it coming when they first talked to us. Anyway, later, my uncle gets there, we buy some of the slightly over-priced vendor food, have a drink and then head home since it was starting to get cold. Not the most exciting hanami, but it was still enjoyable. Apparently, it gets pretty crazy later in the night, once everyone has had more than a few drinks, and people end up dancing and singing and stuff under the trees. My aunt told me that when she and my uncle were younger, they did that. Maybe if some of you guys come to visit me in the next spring, we'll have a wilder time! So, start saving up, okay?