26/03/2012
So the Spring Equinox draws nearer March 28th in fact! Treat yourself to a taste of Japan here! Who knows you might write your first Haiku! Yes we are all waiting for the Sakura Cherry Blossoms to come out and paint Japan a sea of pink and white! Why? Well then we can do Hanami parties!
"Hanami" is the centuries-old practice of picnicking under a blooming sakura or ume tree. The custom is said to have started during the Nara Period (710–794) when it was ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning. But by the Heian Period (794–1185), cherry blossoms came to attract more attention and hanami was synonymous with sakura.[3] From then on, in tanka and haiku, "flowers" meant "sakura." 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCTpZcMZz4M&feature=share
Link: http://www.3planesoft.com/nature-screensavers/blooming-sakura-3d-screensaver/ Cherry in blossom -- amazingly beautiful, but fleeting wonder. You don't ...
