Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing)

Flower viewing began at the Nara court as the admiration of plum blossom (ume), a Chinese import prized in the poetry of the Man'yoshu. By the Heian period cherry had taken its place: the Kokinshu anthology of the early tenth century is full of cherry poems, and in Japanese poetry the word hana, 'flower', came to mean cherry blossom by default. The Nihon Koki records a cherry-blossom banquet held by Emperor Saga in 812, often cited as the first formal hanami.

Samurai rulers adopted the custom as a display of power. In 1594 Toyotomi Hideyoshi held a lavish viewing on Mount Yoshino, and in 1598 a famous hanami at the Kyoto temple of Daigo-ji, for which hundreds of trees were planted. In the Edo period the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, had cherry trees planted at Asukayama and along the Sumida River to give the townspeople of Edo places for recreation, and hanami became a festivity for everyone.

Most of the cherry trees in Japanese parks, schoolyards and riverbanks are Somei Yoshino, a variety bred by gardeners in the village of Somei in Edo (today Komagome in Tokyo) in the late Edo period and named after the famous cherries of Yoshino. It flowers before its leaves emerge, so the trees appear as clouds of pale pink. Because all Somei Yoshino are clones propagated by grafting, trees in one area bloom almost simultaneously, which makes them ideal for forecasting and gives hanami its sense of a shared moment.

Other cherries extend the season: weeping cherries (shidarezakura), prominent at old temples and in Tohoku, bloom a little earlier; the wild mountain cherry (yamazakura) dominates Yoshino; the deep-pink Kanhizakura opens in Okinawa in winter; and double-flowered yaezakura follow Somei Yoshino by one to two weeks.

The sakura zensen, the 'cherry blossom front', moves north and up in altitude across the archipelago. The Japan Meteorological Agency declares the start of flowering (kaika) in each city when a designated sample tree, the hyojunboku, shows at least five or six open flowers, and full bloom (mankai) when about 80 percent of its buds have opened. Tokyo's sample tree stands in the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine. Private weather services publish forecasts from late winter.

As a rule, full bloom follows kaika by about a week, and petals begin to fall a few days later; rain and wind can shorten the season. In an average year Kyushu and Tokyo bloom in late March, Kyoto and Osaka around the turn of the month, Tohoku in mid- to late April and Hokkaido from late April into May.

Almost every town has its cherry park, castle moat or riverside promenade, but a number of places are known across the country. Many are castle grounds, since the Meiji period, when castles were decommissioned and their grounds turned into public parks, often planted with cherries.

A classic hanami party is a picnic on a groundsheet, with bento boxes, snacks and drinks; in companies the most junior employee is traditionally sent out early to claim a spot. Seasonal sweets such as hanami dango, three-coloured rice dumplings on a skewer, and sakura mochi, wrapped in a salted cherry leaf, are part of the season. Yozakura, cherries illuminated at night, draws crowds to parks, castles and temples.

The unwritten rules are about sharing public space. Branches are not shaken, climbed or picked; roots are protected by not spreading sheets directly around the trunk where signs ask not to; rubbish is sorted and taken home or into the designated bins; and many parks restrict barbecues, amplified music, alcohol or overnight reservations of space. The rules differ from park to park and are posted on site.