Celebrating Spring: Two Japanese Customs That Honor the Changing of the Seasons
A Japanese bush warbler, or uguisu, perched near a spray of cherry blossoms in Beppu, Japan | © Cornell Lab of Ornithology 2013
Seventeen Springtime Syllables
Today as never before, a change of seasons can be overlooked. Routines and preoccupations challenge our ability to reflect on new surroundings – the melt of curbside snow, the bloom of familiar trees, the stretch and shrink of daylight hours. Fortunately, a remedy for our distractions already exists in the form of haiku.
In just 17 syllables, haiku remind us to breathe, and to greet each moment as it comes. With warm weather fast approaching, there’s no better time to welcome spring through the timeless words of Kawai Chigetsu.
鶯に手もと休めむながしもと
the songbird’s song
it stops what I am doing
at the kitchen sink
- Kawai Chigetsu, 1698 -
When translating haiku, it’s not uncommon for some nuance or cultural understanding to be lost along the way. This is partly due to the use of seasonal vocabulary (kigo) seldom found outside of traditional contexts. Here, for instance, the singing bird is represented by the character for the Japanese bush warbler (uguisu), a species of bird associated with early spring.
Through her choice of words, setting, and subject matter, Chigetsu crafts a scene that is both intimate and universal, allowing a contemporary reader to connect with a moment captured more than three hundred years ago. Perhaps for the first time that season, the poet has paused to acknowledge the music beyond her window, even in the midst of her chores. It’s a nice reminder for us to listen closely and to share a fleeting moment with nature every now and then, no matter how busy we might become.
An ukiyo-e print depicting cherry blossoms along a mountainside
Greeting the Cherry Blossoms
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of spring is getting to see color gradually return to surroundings made drab by winter. No event exemplifies this change more than the arrival of flowers, a heartening experience no matter where you live. In Japan, however, this time of year holds a special significance, as it has for more than a millenium.
Flower viewing, or ohanami, is an age-old springtime custom dating back to the Nara period (710-794 A.D.). As the weather warmed, the elites of Japanese society would hold extravagant parties timed to match the blooming of cherry blossoms, occasions at which they would feast while admiring the flowers’ magnificence. The eighth shogun of Japan, Tokugawa Yoshimune, even encouraged the practice by ordering an abundance of cherry blossom trees planted throughout the country.
In modern Japan, ohanami refers to the time of year when Japanese citizens gather to appreciate the sight of cherry blossoms, or sakura. Each year, as winter draws to a close, the Japan Meteorological Agency puts out a forecast called the sakura-zensen, or “cherry blossom front,” a heavily anticipated report detailing when and where people can expect the nation’s cherry blossom trees to be in full bloom.
Cherry blossoms exist at the peak of their beauty for only a short time - sometimes as little as a few days - before wind and rain strip the trees of their petals. Given this severely limited timeframe, people across Japan pore over the sakura-zensen, making sure they’ve picked out the ideal date to enjoy ohanami.
Of the myriad ways to do so, perhaps the most common is picnicking with friends or family underneath the branches of cherry blossom trees. Drinking alcoholic beverages in public is permitted in Japan, so people often bring an array of drinks. Ohanami parties can sometimes get quite rowdy as a result, especially those hosted by young people. Depending on where you go, food and drink stalls may be set up to serve the throngs of blossom-watchers, but local convenience stores can meet the same need; after all, ohanami is more about the experience of enjoying nature with friends.
Yozakura at the Meguro River in Matsuno, Japan
In Tokyo, popular spots for ohanami include Ueno Park and Chidorigafuchi (right by the Emperor’s palace), although finding a place for your picnic in these areas may prove difficult. When the sakura are in bloom, thousands of people visit these parks on a daily basis, and the ground is typically covered with tarps and blankets from morning until night.
If you want a decent spot, make sure to arrive at the park very early - ideally before the trains start running. If this seems like a lot of work to look at some flowers, well, it is. Just remember that thousands of cherry blossom trees in full bloom, branches swaying in unison with each passing breeze, make for a truly wonderful sight - one you won’t want to miss, should you happen to be in Japan in early spring.
And if picnics aren’t your thing, or if you want a more unique ohanami experience, you could always visit the Meguro River and try yozakura, or “night sakura.” Every year, paper lanterns are hung along the banks of the river, illuminating the newly opened cherry blossoms with their rosy glow. The river itself is dyed pink by the lanterns’ reflections, and by the loose sakura petals drifting slowly downstream. It’s a spectacle to behold, and has resulted in the Meguro River becoming one of Japan’s most popular ohanami sites.