Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan

If you’re seeking somewhere to travel and spend your holidays for this month (March), Japan can be a decent choice as the cherry blossom viewing season, draws near. A huge event throughout Japan, the festival celebrates the blooming of cherry trees at around the end of March and generally lasts until early April. Even though, for this year, because temperatures in February were above average in most parts of Japan and similarly mild temperatures are forecast for March, the cherry blossoms are expected to open a few days ahead of their average schedule.

Cherry blossoms, also known as Sakura, bloom simultaneously in the spring for one week. Recognized as Japan’s unofficial national flower, Sakura have frequently been used to establish diplomatic ties between Japan and other countries. The flowers reach full bloom and flutter to the ground gracefully during their final stage. The Japanese believe that these blossoms symbolize human life, transience and nobility. The blossoms begin in the southernmost island of Japan, Okinawa, in January and reach Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka in late March with Peak Bloom Period is predicted for April 3 – April 9, 2009.

Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka are the most popular cities to witness this spectacular natural event and to ensure everyone gets a chance to view the delicate pink and white blossoms. Tokyo’s busy Ueno Park, with 1,500 cherry trees, can be one of the best places to view Sakura. Cherry blossoms in Kyoto and Osaka tend to bloom several days later. The Arashiyama Mountain, with the Togetsukyo Wood Bridge, and Kyoto’s Imperial Palace provide beautifully picturesque scenes. Four thousand Sakura trees around Osaka Castle are illuminated at night for one week at the end of March and beginning of April, while Osaka Expo Park with over 5,500 cherry trees is a great place to have a picnic while viewing the cherry blossoms.

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Tags: Cherry Blossom, Japan, Sakura

Asano Naganori

Asano Naganori is a name most – Japanese included would fail to recognise when first hearing it.

Throw in a few hints about him being a former daimyo from the Ako Region in western Honshu though, and the clouds will start to clear as Asano will be remembered as the lord whose death in 1701 led to one of the most famous stories of loyalty and revenge in the Middle Ages.

On April 21st that year, in what is often referred to as the Ako Incident, Asano, to put it incredibly simple lost his temper, drew his weapon – a forbidden act when in the service of the Shogun at the Edo Castle that was later to become the Imperial Palace – and injured the main most seen as baiting him – a lord by the name of Kira.

Within hours Asano Naganori had taken his own life; ordered to do so by the ruling Shogun Tsunayoshi.

His final words – recorded in his death poem of:
“kaze sasofu,
hana yori mo naho
ware wa mata
haru no nagori o
ika ni toyasen”

can translate as

“More than the cherry blossoms,
inviting a wind to blow them away,
I am wondering what to do,
with the remaining springtime.”

Asano was later buried in the graveyard of Sengaku-ji Temple in Shinagawa – the site of his statue (pictured).

His retainers became masterless samurai and the rest as they say – is history - their avenging of the death of their leader achieved by killing Kira on December 15, 1702.

Asano's statue at Sengaku-ji

Tags: Ako, Asano Naganori, Cherry Blossom, samurai, Sengaku-ji