Having just come back from a hanami party, I'm full of motivation. Hanami is flower viewing. In Japan the existence of seasons is much celebrated. Each season has it's own special dishes, candy, drinks, festivals, clothing, bedding, you name it. Personally I like winter the best so far. It came with nabe- yummmmmm! Nabe is a soup-like dish that everyone enjoys in the winter. It comes in many varieties. How it works on a basic level is you have some sort of soup base, in it you cook meat and vegetables, then you eat it. Easy, delicious, nutritious and warm.
Spring has its charms too. For one thing the spring equinox was a holiday! Hurrah! On that day I went to a soccer game with some pals. It was fun. Another nice thing about spring is cheaper produce and lots of delicious strawberries!! Yay! None of the things I have mentioned is what the Japanese go gaga over. A national spring past time in Japan is hanami, aka cherry blossom (Sakura) viewing. Starbucks comes out with special Sakura flavored drinks and Sakura decorated paper cups and tumblers, stores everywhere sell Sakura flavoured confections and candies, alcohol comes in Sakura flavour and is neatly packed, all ready to go for hanami parties. Everyone and everything is Sakura themed at this time of year. There is even a Sakura forecast to let everyone know when Sakura will come to their town.
Today I went to my first hanami party. Hanami parties are groups of people that get together and have a picnic in the park while looking at the Sakura. These parties usually involve consuming copious amounts of alcohol and eating delicious food. I'm happy to report that the cherry blossoms were out and there was tonnes of food and alcohol at the party. What I couldn't have imagined was the sheer volume of people doing the same thing. Thousands upon thousands of people packed into Yoyogi park today to view the Sakura. It was great! I was with my Tokyo dancing friends so we danced, there were people dressed up, and there was even a man with a portable pole... Why? For pole dancing of course!!
Though today was my first party, it wasn't my first hanami experience. Earlier this week I went for a walk with my neighbour and we got some early hanami in. On Friday, at school, a teacher and I had a hanami lunch. See pictures below.
That's enough about hanami for now... Recently, my coworker and I dressed up in Kasujo uniforms and had a little fun. We rolled up our skirts and visited with some third years (who were about to graduate) and then we unrolled them, for fear of punishment if the teachers caught us, and went on tour of the school. We pretended to be new international students and went to greet the other teachers. I didn't think it would work... But it did. We tricked a good amount of teachers, including Takahashi sensei, our supervisor! It took him about a minute to recognize us. Hahaha.
What does this have to do with kawaii culture (cute culture)? Well, when I posted the photos on Facebook, everyone liked them. Especially the boys. What makes wearing a uniform so darn cute and desirable? That's for another post.
On a related note, at the year end assembly, it was reported that 6 students had run-ins with chikan (perverts). So the students were warned to keep their skirts long and to take care. Ugh. Why this obsession with school girls?
