The joys of spring: a different view of Japan’s cherry blossom
If you want to catch the upcoming cherry blossom season in Japan, but don’t fancy the festival-sized crowds in urban centres, try a more sedate alternative in Chugoku, writes Steve John Powell
HANAMI IS INVARIABLY translated as “flower viewing”, but that is quite inadequate to convey the true spirit of cherry blossom time in Japan. There is no word in English for “getting gently inebriated under a tree and sharing scrumptious food with friends while contemplating the transient beauty of the blossom”.
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” wrote the poet Keats. For the Japanese, joy derives from the fleeting nature of sakura. The season triggers a nationwide fervour, spanning all ages and classes, that is typically seen elsewhere before royal weddings and football finals.
Blossom watching began more than 1,000 years ago in the Heian period (794-1185), when hanami parties were strictly for the aristocracy. As horticulture developed, cherry trees were planted in public parks, temple gardens and river banks.
Solitude is unfortunately not on the agenda when blossom viewing, but at these destinations in Chugoku, the western part of the central island of Honshu, the atmosphere is warm and the crowds will include lots of locals.
Fukuyama and Onomichi
Stately Japanese castles make the perfect backdrop for blossom viewing, and Fukuyama’s white-walled, fivestorey castle (built in1619) in eastern Hiroshima prefecture is no exception.
