Sakura sakura

April 2

April is an exciting month in Japan. After the long winter, the signs of spring, even though the days are still chilly, make everyone feel upbeat and hopeful. Shops are decked out in pink and spring green. Kids start school and new employees start at companies.

Near the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Last year, of course, spring was pretty subdued after the disasters in Tohoku. Most hanami (cherry blossom viewing parties) were cancelled. The sakura still bloomed, but it was a really bitter-sweet feeling, especially when news cameras showed the glorious blossoms in the abandoned towns in Fukushima. Beautiful ghost towns.

This year, it was all on, with a focus on sake and foods from Northern Japan, to show support. The sakura bloomed late this year, due to the cold, and we actually got two weekends with lots of blossoms. A friend visiting from England asked me why Japanese people seem so crazy about cherry blossoms. Looking at the huge number of sakura-themed foods, alcohols, decorations, accessories, fabrics and pop songs, I’d have to agree – people go a bit sakura-mad!

Sakura theme chopstick rests

It's surprising how many sakura themed dishes we have at home

For one thing, I guess, there’s the fleeting beauty aspect. The flowers reach full bloom for such a short time, then they fall and drift on the breeze like confetti. You have a week at most to enjoy them. On the other hand, they bloom every year, so there’s a feeling hope – no matter how bad things are / how cold the winter, spring and sakura will return. It’s also a time of endings and new beginnings in life. This means farewell and entrance ceremonies at school and drinking parties for new recruits. Everyone feels nostalgic remembering their first days on the job, or starting high school at this most photogenic time (many schools have a cherry blossom tree in their grounds, perfect for new class photos).

Our local shrine

Sakura "confetti" at Asukayama park, Oji

Capturing this nostalgia, of course, are annual sakura-themed pop songs (it’s not so different to the Western rush to release a Christmas song each year). The theme is almost always bitter-sweet. One of my favourites is “Sakura” by Kobukuro. The harmonies are lovely but the lyrics are a sad tale of loneliness and lost love. I’d also recommend “Sakurabito” by Every Little Thing (lost love encapsulated in a flower petal) and “Sakura” by Ikimono gakari (graduation and saying goodbye to young love). See? They’re all beautiful, but terribly wistful. Addictive.

I love the colour of these sakura jellies

Sakura mochi is sweet bean paste enveloped in pink mochi, finished with a lightly salted, preserved cherry leaf

Delicious jellies with a whole cherry inside

When I lived near Ueno park, we’d always have a huge, raucous hanami party. It’s one of the most popular parks in Tokyo, with around 1,000 sakura trees, so you can imagine, it gets packed! A few brave friends (thank you, Emiko!) would camp out overnight on the Saturday, so we could have a great space under the blossoms for Sunday. Actually, the party goes all night, with departing groups handing left-over alcohol and snacks on to the next people. We met otaku guys who brought their Gundam figures along for the party, and questionable cosplayers (why do guys always want to dress like Sailor Moon?), who would save space for us and share their hot coffee (it’s still really cold at hanami time – sleeping bags and snowboarding gear are essential for camping out). You’ll see people at their convivial best and drunken worst in hanami season! Sometimes, the camping party went so well, those hardy folks would have to go home to recover and miss the ‘official’ party, but we’d all meet up later at an izakaya.

Ueno park at night

Our precious space!

I have fond memories of young guys running around the park in pink nurse costumes, yakisoba stalls, the wine shops and pizza guys that deliver to the park, receiving random, huge bottles of sake from passers-by, chatting with the homeless guys, finding sakura petals in your hair or (very lucky) in your sake, everyone bringing treats they’d made, like onigiri, tamagoyaki, potato salad and lots of fried chicken and the organised way everyone cleaned up and disposed of their rubbish for recycling. Not so fond memories: waiting for 30 minutes or more in the toilet line, feeling like creatures in a zoo as thousands of people shuffled past, staring and taking photos.

I'd love to say everyone makes gorgeous bentos, but we're not quite so organised

There's a saying, "hana yori dango" - food over flowers, but maybe it should be "hana yori beer".