Cherry Blossoms in Japan!!

The season of cherry blossoms has come!! XD
You know, Japanese people do love cherry blossoms. In Spring, we have "cherry blossom forecast" on TV, just like a weather forecast.

Please look at this website.
http://sakura.weathermap.jp/

The lines on this map show the blooming dates of cherry blossoms. We call it 桜(さくら)前線(ぜんせん) /Sakura Zensen/, which literally means "cherry blossoms front".


What will Japanese people do when cherry blossoms bloomed? Do you know?



Lay out vinyl sheets, sit under the trees, enjoy viewing the blossoms, dink, eat,
and have fun!! XD　That's what we call 花見（はなみ）/hanami/ in Japanese.

花見 isn't only for daytime.

It's more and more awesome to see cherry blossoms lit up in the night.
We especially call the cherry blossoms at night as 夜桜（よざくら）/yozakura/.

(The title of this video)  兼六園(けんろくえん)で夜桜(よざくら)見物(けんぶつ)
Viewing cherry blossoms at night in Kenrokuen garden

When I was small, my parents used to take my siblings and me to Kenrokuen garden.

We walked along white gravel paths, viewing cherry blossoms and the castle lit up at night. The stalls by the roadside were really attractive to us. :D My two brothers and I often asked our parents to buy toys and snacks.


Do you have cherry blossoms in your town? :)



*Japanese Word of the Day*
花（はな）より団子（だんご）
/hana yori dango/
Dumplings rather than flowers (※Japanese proverb)

*花/hana/ means flowers, but in this saying, it implies cherry blossoms.
*団子/dango/ is a sweet dumpling. It's common to eat them during 花見.

*A より B ＝ B rather than A

Are you more interested in eating and drinking than appreciating the beauty of flowers during 花見? Then, it's 花より団子. The practical is preferred over aesthetic. XD


Me? Well.. Um.. I love dumplings!!