Cherry Blossom Time in Tokyo
t’s cherry blossom time in Tokyo, one of the trickiest stretches of the year weather-wise. A day can turn from cold to rainy, sometimes within hours. Because it’s so unpredictable, I gave up on hanami picnics years ago. Instead, I take whatever fair weather I can get and walk. The trees are everywhere. They feel less like an event and more like a presence woven into the city. At home, I gather friends around the table, with rose wine, gari pickles, and seasonal wagashi such as sakura-mochi bringing touches of pink indoors.
I’ve often discouraged friends from coming to Japan at this time, steering them instead toward late April and May, when azaleas, iris, and wisteria are in bloom, or toward the dry clarity of late autumn, when maple leaves blaze.
Cherry blossoms along a Tokyo street, woven into the city’s daily life in spring.
And yet, I know how lucky I am to live with the cherry blossoms each year. They are something everyone should experience at least once. Here, they are not ornamental specimens, as they often are in parks and gardens in the West. They grow large, almost like oaks, with deeply etched bark and thick, flowing limbs. There is a majesty to them. They transform the city and, for me, announce the return of spring and the renewal of life.
When friends do visit, I tell them not to worry too much about timing. The season is longer than it’s often made out to be. It begins with the early Shidare-zakura weeping cherries, moves into the iconic Yoshino variety, and concludes weeks later with the Yae-zakura, whose blossoms gather into bright, fluffy clusters.
On clear days, the parks and riverbanks fill with people, friends gathered on blue tarps, children running beneath the trees, often staying late into the night. There is an exuberance to it, which in itself is something to experience.
On a clear day, the city gathers beneath the blossoms, an easy, shared exuberance.
For these reasons, I’ve come to think of the blossoms not as a symbol of life’s transience but as an invitation to live with them while they’re here, as I suspect others do too.