Hanami

People taking part in hanami in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, March 2008

• Japanese: 花見 (hanami)

Hanami (lit. "flower viewing") is the practice of admiring or enjoying viewing cherry blossoms. The practice typically takes the form of a picnic, featuring food and drink, in which people simply gather under or nearby the trees and enjoy themselves while enjoying the aesthetic atmosphere provided by the short-lived pale pink blossoms.

Origins

According to some sources, the practice of hanami traces its origins to a flower viewing party organized by Emperor Saga at the Shinsen'en imperial gardens in Heian-kyô in 812.

However, other sources suggest that cherries, particularly the shidare zakura whose branches hang low to the ground, had long been seen as representing some connection between the world of the dead and that of the living, and that these were also associated with onryô, angry spirits of those who in death hold onto anger against those who wronged them in life. In connection with this, the base of a cherry tree was often represented in folklore as a gateway to the underworld. According to this theory, hanami picnics developed out of ritual dances, music, and poetry performed to pacify these angry spirits.