Countries Of My Life: Japanese Celebrating Sakura

After my last Sakura Hunt, I wanted to find out how Japanese people were really celebrating Sakura. I already watched it with some friends, but there are many forms how you can celebrate it. Until then, I just experienced the "walking through Sakura alleys" style :D

Flowers in Front of My Apartment

At first I went to 浜離宮恩賜庭園 (engl. Hamarikyu Gardens). It is an old garden which was remodeled after a villa of the Tokugawa family (famous clan with the most influence in the Edo period) and opened in 1946. It's inhabiting all kinds of plants, even a 300-years black pine tree which is said to be the biggest one in Tokyo.

The 300-years Black Pine Tree

At first, I had to search a bit for Sakura trees, but after some minutes I found them. Many people were already there, taking photos or just enjoying the view. It was a very wonderful spot to relax, so I enjoyed it too. By taking many photos of course :D

Wasn't the only one taking tons of photos today :D

Many people were also there with their friends and families, sitting in the grass on a blanket and talking while watching Sakura tress. Kind of a surprise, because on the street, people always looking very busy and hastened. But that is a useful trick you can learn in Japan: Being very active and busy at one time, and when you have the possibility you just relax in this moment (power nap in the train, sitting in a park, ... ) With this strategy, you can feel good even after stressful months :)

My second station was the Ueno Park near the Zoo, which I visited last year already. The park is said to be the most popular spot for watching Sakura aka Hanami. So in contrast to the Hamarikyu Gardens it was very crowded. Every free space was filled with people sitting on their blankets, eating and drinking ^^ I felt like being in a big festival but actually with far more people and less booths ;)

Hard to find any free spot here oO

The event itself was also an interesting aspect for me, because most Japanese love privacy. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean that Japanese people aren't open-minded and hospitable, it's actually the opposite ^^ But this is another topic.

Despite their love for private areas with friends and families only (Karaoke, Restaurants and so on), here everyone just sat next to each other and it was so loud that I wondered how they could understand each other :)

This is another strength of the Japanese people: Adaption. If there is no space for privacy, then it's no problem. And if there is the possibility to have privacy, they take it. Of course, those were just my thoughts at this time, I didn't use accurate scientific methods to analyse it nor did I publish my results for Peer-To-Peer :P