Hanami and Jet Lag.

I don’t want to speak too soon but I don’t seem to have jet lag. It’s possible that it’s still to come as I have currently been awake for thirty hours and it’s still 4 hours until bedtime. I’m not even tired. I am good at not sleeping.

We had been worried that we were going to miss the cherry blossom. It has been a mild winter and it was predicted to be early. In Japan the season of Sakura is very important. It’s a bit like Easter for Christians without the torture and murder, in that it is a time to remember things coming back to life. They have a lot of cherry trees and the blossom only lasts about 9 days. The Japanese celebrate by having picnics under the trees and they call this Hanami. They also put Sakura into everything from cake to soap to KitKats.

After we dropped our bags off at the hotel we decided to go for a walk. Soon, we found ourselves swept along in a crowd. People were going somewhere with a purpose. They had beautifully wrapped items in paper bags. As we walked an old man asked me if I was going to see the Sakura in Shinjuku Gardens. He told me that he thought it was the best place for Hanami. The Long Suffering Husband said that he knew we were heading for the gardens. I’d had a bit of an anxious journey and he bows me well enough by now to know that the best place to put me to recover is a park.

The Japanese are genuinely lovely, although I’m not sure how they get anything done with all that bowing. The park was packed with people but there was a wonderful atmosphere. It was all about families, food and photography. Children rolled in the grass, blew bubbles, ate impressive food. Teenagers dressed in kimonos were still attached to their phones, older ladies huddled under an umbrella to keep the sun off and tourists took postcard photos.

 

People picnic under the trees

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