Sakura

Sakura is the Japanese word for Cherry blossom. Every April, the sakura blossom for a very brief period of time (one week to about 10 days), and everyone in Japan goes bananas over it (think of how people comment that the leaves turn neat colours in the fall, then multiply that by 100 times, and imagine it only lasts for a week). They really are quite spectacular, and the pictures below don't do them justice. The flowers are white, and light pink in colour, and are very delicate-looking. Eventually, the wind blows them away, and you're left with just a regular-looking tree.

So far as I can tell, there are a few reasons why Japanese people particularly like the sakura season (these all come from multiple Japanese sources that all confirm the same thing):

-the light pink colour is very modest (much like the Japanese demeanor); Japanese people don't like very bright/dark colours as much, because that would be like appreciating loudmouth plants.

-the sakura season occurs in April, which is when many people change jobs (if you work for a big company, for the government, or in many other jobs, people get shuffled around at this time), and the school season starts (unlike our school season, which starts in the fall when everything is dying).

-the sakura are only around for a brief period, then disappear into nothingness. This is symbolic of both life itself, and the old Japanese ways (bushido, samurai, etc) that were around for a while then just suddenly vanished.

So, way back in April, me and some friends went to Kyoto (apparently the best place in this area for checking out the sakura) on the best weekend for viewing them. Surprisingly, we were not the only ones to have this idea. This meant huge line-ups everywhere, and the population of Kyoto seeming to be double what it should in every other respect. Most buses we saw were jammed full of people, and wouldn't bother to stop unless they were letting people off. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time walking.

I'll start to update stuff from a while ago as I have more free time. Maybe eventually I'll get around to posting pictures from my trip to Thailand.