Hanami
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Castle_Himeji_sakura02.jpg/220px-Castle_Himeji_sakura02.jpg)
Hanami (
In modern-day Japan, hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. In some contexts the Sino-Japanese term kan'ō (観桜, view-cherry) is used instead, particularly for festivals. Hanami at night is called yozakura (夜桜) "night sakura". In many places such as Ueno Park temporary paper lanterns are hung for the purpose of yozakura. On the island of Okinawa, decorative electric lanterns are hung in the trees for evening enjoyment, such as on the trees ascending Mt. Yae, near Motobu Town, or at the Nakijin Castle.
A more ancient form of hanami also exists in Japan, which is enjoying the plum blossoms instead, which is narrowly referred to as umemi (梅見, plum-viewing). This kind of hanami is popular among older people, because they are calmer than the sakura parties, which usually involve younger people and can sometimes be very crowded and noisy.
History
In these spring days,
when tranquil light encompasses
the four directions,
why do the blossoms scatter
with such uneasy hearts?
Ki no Tomonori (c. 850 – c. 904)[4]
The practice of hanami is many centuries old. The custom is said to have started during the Nara period (710–794) when it was plum or ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning. The Japanese practice of hanami originated from the Chinese custom of enjoying poetry and wine underneath plum blossom trees while viewing their flowers, that was replicated by Japanese elites. This is supported by the fact that hanami started in urban areas rather than rural areas, that Japanese people initially admired plum blossoms like the Chinese rather than cherry blossoms, and that classic Japanese poetry does not associate cherry blossoms with merriness.[5]
By the Heian period (794–1185), cherry blossoms or sakura came to attract more attention than the plum blossom and hanami was synonymous with sakura.[6] From then on, in both waka and haiku, "flowers" meant "sakura".[7][8]
Hanami was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era novel The Tale of Genji. Although a wisteria viewing party was also described, the terms "hanami" and "flower party" were subsequently used only in reference to cherry blossom viewing.
Sakura was originally used to divine that year's harvest as well as announce the rice-planting season. People believed in kami inside the trees and made offerings. Afterwards, they partook of the offering with sake.
Emperor Saga of the Heian period adopted this practice, and held flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of Hanami in Japan.
If there were no cherry blossoms in this world
How much more tranquil our hearts would be in spring.
Ariwara no Narihira (825–880)[9]
The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to Samurai society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well. Tokugawa Yoshimune planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Shidare-zakura_%E3%82%B7%E3%83%80%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B6%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A92.jpg/220px-Shidare-zakura_%E3%82%B7%E3%83%80%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B6%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A92.jpg)
Since a book written in the Heian period mentions "
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Hokuto_Yamanashi_Yamatakajindaizakura_1.jpg/220px-Hokuto_Yamanashi_Yamatakajindaizakura_1.jpg)
In the Edo period, various double-flowered cultivars were produced and planted on the banks of rivers, on Buddhist temples, in Shinto shrines and in daimyo gardens in urban areas such as Edo, and the common people living in urban areas could enjoy them. Books from that period recorded more than 200 varieties of cherry blossoms and mentioned many varieties of cherry blossoms which are currently known, such as 'Kanzan'. However, the situation was limited to urban areas, and the main objects of hanami across the country were wild species such as Prunus jamasakura (Yamazakura) and Oshima cherry, which were widely distributed in the country.[10]
Since the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Geishas_of_Muk%C5%8Djima.jpg/220px-Geishas_of_Muk%C5%8Djima.jpg)
The teasing proverb dumplings rather than flowers (花より団子, hana yori dango) hints at the real priorities for most cherry blossom viewers, meaning that people are more interested in the food and drinks accompanying a hanami party than actually viewing the flowers themselves.[15][16]
Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees! is a popular saying about hanami, after the opening sentence of the 1925 short story "Under the Cherry Trees" by Motojirō Kajii.
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Ukiyo-e painting from The Tale of Genji, chapter 20 Hana no En, "Under the Cherry Blossoms", by artist Kunisada (1852)
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Cherry Blossom Viewing Picnic, c. 1624–1644. Edo period, Kan'ei Era. Ink, color and gold leaf on paper, Brooklyn Museum
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Ladies in the Edo palace enjoying cherry blossoms, Toyohara Chikanobu (1894)
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Evening Banquet for Cherry-blossom Viewing at the Rokujô Palace (Rokujô gosho hanami no yûen), by Kunisada (1855)
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Woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, series "Courageous Warriors" ("Yoshitoshi musha burui"), Kurō Hangan Minamoto Yoshitsune and Musashibō Benkei under a cherry tree
Hanami today
The Japanese people continue the tradition of hanami, gathering in great numbers wherever the flowering trees are found. Thousands of people fill the parks to hold feasts under the flowering trees, and sometimes these parties go on until late at night. In more than half of Japan, the cherry blossoming days come at the same time as the beginning of school and work after vacation, and so welcoming parties are often opened with hanami. Usually, people go to the parks to keep the best places to celebrate hanami with friends, family, and company coworkers many hours or even days before. In cities like Tokyo, it is also common to have celebrations under the sakura at night. Hanami at night is called yozakura (夜桜, "night sakura"). In many places such as Ueno Park, temporary paper lanterns are hung to have yozakura.
The
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Cherry blossom viewing, Himeji Castle, 2009
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Hanami through the "Tunnel" at Japan Mint in Osaka, 2016
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(video) Hanami picknickers in Bunkyō, 2015
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Hanami at Maruyama Park behind Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, 2014
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Hanami parties along the Kamo River, 2005
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A blossom forecast for 2006, with the predicted dates of blossoms. The numbers are for dates (3.22 is March 22) and the "cherry blossom front" moves from south to north.
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A colourful collection of sweet and savoury snacks to nibble on between sips of sake, while admiring the cherry blossoms
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Chidorigafuchi, Tokyo
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Hanami in Ueno Park
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Hanami inParc de Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine
Outside Japan
Similar celebrations take place in Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and China.[24]
North America
United States
In the United States, hanami has also become very popular. In 1912, Japan gave 3,000 sakura trees as a gift to the United States to celebrate the nations' friendship. These trees were planted in Washington, D.C., and another 3,800 trees were donated in 1965.[25] These sakura trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction, and every year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival takes place when they bloom in early spring.[26]
In Macon, Georgia, another cherry blossom festival called the International Cherry Blossom Festival is celebrated every spring. Macon is known as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World, because 300,000 sakura trees grow there.[27]
In
Another popular collection of sakura in the United States is in Newark, New Jersey's Branch Brook Park, whose over 5,000 cherry trees of 18 varieties attract 10,000 visitors a day during its annual Cherry Blossom Festival.[30][31]
Canada
In Toronto, Canada the Hanami is celebrated in the many parks in the city in late April, due to the city's cold climate. Around 50 Yoshino Sakura trees have been donated to the city as symbols of international friendship and good will by the descendants of Japanese immigrants.[citation needed] High Park, the home of the most extensive cherry tree collection in the city, closes its streets to auto traffic to better allow for sakura viewing during the week of peak bloom.
Vancouver[32] has over 40,000 cherry blossom trees of different varieties. Queen Elizabeth Park is a popular spot to view the cherry blossom trees.
Europe
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Kirsikkapuisto_during_cherry_blossom_in_Roihuvuori%2C_Helsinki%2C_2022_May_-_2.jpg/220px-Kirsikkapuisto_during_cherry_blossom_in_Roihuvuori%2C_Helsinki%2C_2022_May_-_2.jpg)
Hanami is also celebrated in several European countries. For example, in Finland people gather to celebrate hanami in Helsinki at Roihuvuori. Local Japanese people and companies have donated 200 cherry trees which are all planted in Kirsikkapuisto. Those cherry trees usually bloom in mid-May.[citation needed]
In Rome, in Italy, the hanami is celebrated, where are a lot of cherry trees were donated by Japan in 1959.[33]
In Stockholm there is an annual festivity in Kungsträdgården[34] where a lot of people celebrate hanami.[35]
Paris has several stunning displays of cherry blossom trees in the Trocadero Garden, Jardin des Plantes, Parc de Sceaux, and many other spots.[36]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the National Trust initiated the #BlossomWatch campaign, which was inspired by Japanese cherry blossom festivals. It encouraged people to share images of first flowers on their lockdown walks.[37][38]
See also
- Cherry Tree Park
- Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi
- Momijigari, autumn leaf viewing
- Prunus
- Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia
- Tsukimi, moon viewing
- List of Award of Garden Merit flowering cherries
- Fuji Matsuri
References
- ISBN 0-8048-2056-2.
hanami.
- ^ "Cherry blossom forecast" (in Japanese). Weather Map. 27 January 2021.
- ^ "Okinawa Cherry Festivals". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22.
- ^ Pictures of the heart: the hyakunin isshu in word and image, University of Hawaii Press, 1996, By Joshua S. Mostow, page 105
- ISBN 978-1402049903.
- ISBN 1-889538-25-6.
- Japan Times, 25 March 2012, p. 7.
- ^ Inoki, Linda, "Tracing the trees in a long national love affair", The Japan Times, 25 March 2012, p. 7.
- ^ "Cherry Blossom Viewing". Japan Mint. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-4004315346
- ISBN 978-4004315346
- ISBN 978-4004315346
- ISBN 978-4004315346
- ISBN 978-4004315346
- ISBN 0-8061-1082-1.
- ISBN 0-9748330-2-9.
- ISBN 978-4-533-01983-8. Archived from the originalon 2007-04-28. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
As cherry blossom front comes up, the whole Japan goes into a war; we just can't sit home and let it go.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ Hoskins, Peter (2020-03-20). "Japan cherry blossom season wilted by coronavirus". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
- ^ "Japan's cherry blossom 'earliest peak since 812'". BBC News. 2021-03-30.
- ^ "Japan's cherry blossoms are a marker of natural time — and how climate change is altering it". 19 May 2022.
- Mt. Takao, in Tokyo, Japan. The cherry trees flowered earlier over time, by an average of 5.5 d over the 25-yr study.
- PMID 17478009.
The longest and best known phenological records come from the Far East and Europe, including ... the 1300+-year Kyoto cherry blossom time series [37]... These longterm historical records can serve as proxies for temperature where thermometer data are unavailable.
- ^ "Spring flower festival events". Seoul Metropolitan Government. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
- ^ "HISTORY OF THE CHERRY TREES". National Park Service, United States.
- ^ "National Cherry Blossom Festiva". Official Site. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
- ^ "International Cherry Blossom Festival Online". Official Site. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
- ^ "Brooklyn Botanic Garden Celebrates Hanami". Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, New York. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
- ^ "Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia". Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
- ^ "Branch Brook Park FAQs". Retrieved March 26, 2016.
- ^ Di Ionno, Mark (27 March 2016). "The story behind Branch Brook Park's cherry blossom trees". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ ""This is why I live here!" exclaims many a Vancouverites during cherry blossom season". www.destinationvancouver.com. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ "Passeggiata del Giappone". rerumromanarum.com.
- ^ "Kungsträdgården norra delen 1997-98". silvertlindblom.se. January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Hanami – körsbärsblomningen i Kungsträdgården". silvertlindblom.se. July 15, 2018.
- ^ "Best Places For Cherry Blossoms In Paris". This Life Of Travel. 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ Bawden, Tom (2020-03-27). "National Trust asks public to take a moment to enjoy the blossom". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ "Blossom watch". National Trust. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
External links
Media related to Hanami at Wikimedia Commons
- Hanami in Philadelphia! Information on the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia Archived 2008-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
- Hanami Documentary produced by Oregon Field Guide
- Kyotoview — Hanami In Kyoto
- Cherry Blossom Forecast Yearly map of blossoms in Japan