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 Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:58 pm
Hanami season will be coming soon (I believe the best time is the very end of April for like.. a week) and I started to remember the hanami I went to last year. It was my first one, and I must say I was very impressed.. just clouds and clouds of (mostly) pink sakura floating everywhere!
I went to the canal street of Nakameguro and Ueno Park (both in Tokyo), and it was just great.. not just to walk about, but to see how the Japanese enjoy their sakura! The best part was in Ueno park, when the wind gusts suddenly and ALL the trees rustle and thousands and thousands of petals blow everywhere! The whole crowd sighs in delight, even cheers! 4laugh
I don't think sakura is the official flower of Japan (it's chrysanthemum right?) and Japanese revere many more flowers in their respective seasons (iris, rape flower, plum blossms, lillies, wisteria, lotus, cosmos, and a ton more I'm sure). But sakura get the most attention, hands down. Every spring pop artists release a single with "sakura" in the title somewhere, even as early as February. Sakura are the epitome of spring beauty, not to mention it's probably one of the most common female names. The cliche love scene in Japanese cinema are two youths who promise to meet under the sakura tree.
But I can't help but think that sakura, like the rose, may be over done, or even overrated. I love sakura, but only in season. Even some Japanese think sakura is overused in modern art imagery and pop culture. After sakura over-load throughout April and May, I thought it was done for the year.. but in September there was a new song on the charts about "aki-zakura".. ugh! LOL lol
What do you think of sakura? And any other Japanese imagery and ideas about their seasonal flowers?
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:05 pm
The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it...
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:30 pm
I've heard of kiku(chrisanthemum), and how its the flower of the emperor.
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:23 pm
Doumanagi Dazaemon The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it... They equated their lifes to the sakura because it starts to fall apart as soon as it blooms.. relation to the samurai = they get cut down in their prime. sad At least they were being poetic about it.. FUN FACT: surprised Samurai didn't really get all poetic and mushy about dieing until the Edo period when they really had nothing much to do... before that they were just as dirty, mean, and violent as a Dark Age warrior.
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:10 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:28 pm
I personally like wisteria the best. 4laugh We went to a sort of.. wisteria grove I guess you would call it (wisteria grows best on trellis' hanging down) and they had every single type of wisteria.. save for the tons of bumble bees, I was in heaven! I think they are so beautiful and romantic-looking.
I really want to get married in a place like that. eek Someday...
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:35 pm
Wisteria Darling Doumanagi Dazaemon The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it... They equated their lifes to the sakura because it starts to fall apart as soon as it blooms.. relation to the samurai = they get cut down in their prime. sad At least they were being poetic about it.. FUN FACT: surprised Samurai didn't really get all poetic and mushy about dieing until the Edo period when they really had nothing much to do... before that they were just as dirty, mean, and violent as a Dark Age warrior. *(#_ _)* --falls over-- Really?!? I didn't know they started doing that so late in history... (;-_-) Edo era was pretty quiet... d[-_-]b ~| DOHMAH |~ d[-_-]b
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:43 am
i think sakura are more popular 'cause they symbolize the time when people graduate or start a new year of school smile and thats a pretty big thing (my friends school year ends tomorow...)
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:11 am
Well, when I lived in Japan I thought the Spring Festivals were the best.
Second came the summer festivals cause of the fireworks.
But I suppose, since I grew up in Japan, sakura is quite more romantic than roses...
Roses have those awful thorns. ><
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:16 pm
Wisteria Darling Doumanagi Dazaemon The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it... They equated their lifes to the sakura because it starts to fall apart as soon as it blooms.. relation to the samurai = they get cut down in their prime. sad At least they were being poetic about it.. FUN FACT: surprised Samurai didn't really get all poetic and mushy about dieing until the Edo period when they really had nothing much to do... before that they were just as dirty, mean, and violent as a Dark Age warrior. That really was a fun fact :3 I didn't know that. But i kindaf did a research on some japanese idealism. An author wrote that Japanese people like the sakura because it falls in it's prime, it never has to go through a withering period and cling to life like a coward or so. Something like that, but I'm paraphrasing biggrin He was talking about japanese idealism of youth and beauty. The sakura is like a flower that chooses to fall when it's in its full bloom unlike some flowers.
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:56 pm
Yup, that sounds pretty Japanese to me. Doing anything to avoid humiliation, i.e. being perfect. neutral Wow didn't think sakura could go so deep. They really are such flimsy flowers and their scent is just so.. light.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:59 am
Katsuo kun I've heard of kiku(chrisanthemum), and how its the flower of the emperor. Yeah, the Kiku...you know I heard that for a while it was illegal to use it as a family crest because of that. On another note, I always thought it was funny that in my Japanese textbook kiku is listed in the first chapter vocabulary..I mean, how many people are going around needing a translation for Chrysanthenums??? At least, beginners?
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:01 am
amestris Wisteria Darling Doumanagi Dazaemon The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it... They equated their lifes to the sakura because it starts to fall apart as soon as it blooms.. relation to the samurai = they get cut down in their prime. sad At least they were being poetic about it.. FUN FACT: surprised Samurai didn't really get all poetic and mushy about dieing until the Edo period when they really had nothing much to do... before that they were just as dirty, mean, and violent as a Dark Age warrior. That really was a fun fact :3 I didn't know that. But i kindaf did a research on some japanese idealism. An author wrote that Japanese people like the sakura because it falls in it's prime, it never has to go through a withering period and cling to life like a coward or so. Something like that, but I'm paraphrasing biggrin He was talking about japanese idealism of youth and beauty. The sakura is like a flower that chooses to fall when it's in its full bloom unlike some flowers. I'm a big fan of the story that a dead body is buried beneath every cherry tree...hence their pinkish color from the blood. XD
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:34 pm
YorikoSakakibara amestris Wisteria Darling Doumanagi Dazaemon The sakura appears to be a really big deal in japan, now as well as throughout history... The samurai of the past even idolized the sakura tree and (somehow in a way I can't understand -_-; ) wanted to become like it... They equated their lifes to the sakura because it starts to fall apart as soon as it blooms.. relation to the samurai = they get cut down in their prime. sad At least they were being poetic about it.. FUN FACT: surprised Samurai didn't really get all poetic and mushy about dieing until the Edo period when they really had nothing much to do... before that they were just as dirty, mean, and violent as a Dark Age warrior. That really was a fun fact :3 I didn't know that. But i kindaf did a research on some japanese idealism. An author wrote that Japanese people like the sakura because it falls in it's prime, it never has to go through a withering period and cling to life like a coward or so. Something like that, but I'm paraphrasing biggrin He was talking about japanese idealism of youth and beauty. The sakura is like a flower that chooses to fall when it's in its full bloom unlike some flowers. I'm a big fan of the story that a dead body is buried beneath every cherry tree...hence their pinkish color from the blood. XD Good lord, how morbid. eek Didn't know that.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:15 pm
Oh dear... i've never heard that too ^^;
but it's a nice pink colour if it's from blood razz
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