Hanami:

Hanami is a festival celebrated throughout japan. It is a festival of admiring the beauty of the blossoming of the cherry trees which is known as “Sakura” in Japanese. In ancient times, the Sakura trees had been a sacred home place for deities like the God of mountain, the God of rice etc.., So for this reason farmers make their offerings to the trees in order to have a bountiful harvests.

By the time, this tradition assumed different meanings and styles. Even the ancient admired the charm of the cherry tree and wrote many wonderful poems about the trees. There totally over 600 different types of cherry trees in Japan. There are classified into two types, one is “wild” and another one is “cultivated”. The most popular type is called as “Somei Yoshino” which accounts for 80% of all the Sakura trees in Japan. Another popular species is “Shidare Zakura”.

All members of the family gather at the cherry tree and they spend their time together drinking alcohol and having picnic. During festival times, the most popular sites of Hanami is crowded with food and drinking stalls. The Hanami can not only be celebrated during day, it can also be enjoyed during night time, when the cherry trees are lit up and they also give a completely different view known as “Yozakura”.

There are some rules to follow at Hanami they are

1. Share the space with your neighbors

2. Don’t leave the waste on the ground

3. One should not damage the cherry tree.

So I suggest everyone to witness the beauty of the blossoming cherry tree in Kyoto, Japan. ~ Archana S.N