The Japanese call it Hanami (花見 – flower viewing), and it is an important national festival.

The cherry flower is the Japanese national flower, and due to the geography of the archipelago, that runs south to north, the Japanese experience a wave of blossomings, that starts in February in Okinawa and ends in May in Hokkaido.
They call it sakura zensen (桜前線) – the Cherry Blossom Front.

And the thing is not exclusively Japanese.
In 1912, Japan donated three thousand cherry trees to the USA. They were put in place in Washington, DC, so that the yanks too now have a Cherry Blossom Festival.

And I do, too. Continue reading →