SAKURA at Ueno Park,Tokyo
The cherry blossom,or sakura as
the Japanese usually call it,is the flower of any of several trees of the genus
Prunus (plums,cherries,peaches,apricots,and almonds),that blooms in
spring.Every year,the sakura blooms all over Japan from the end of March to
early May.There is a Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of
these flowers called hanami.The Japanese sit in a park with their family or
friend-chatting,eating snacks and drinking together-while enjoying the
magnificent view of the beautiful sakura.
On April,at the beginning of
spring,I went to Ueno Park.It was really beautiful.Most of the trees there were
cherry trees.Since it was early spring,it was the right time for the flowers to
bloom,there were no leaves at all.So all the small branches were filled with
white pinkish small flowers.They were cherry blossoms.The sight was really
amazing and unforgettable.I was very lucky to visit Tokyo at the right time for
viewing the cherry blossoms.
Cherry blososoms bloom only once
a year,lasting for about two weeks.Then all the flowers will fall off,the
leaves will start to grow again and the tree will be green for the rest of the year until fall comes.In winter the
branches will be bare without any leaves at all.Hanami is a very special event by
spreading out a piece of 2x3 m blue canvas
under a cherry tree.Each deputy will pick a site and guard it from early
in the morning.In the afternoon the other members of the group will come
after school of office hours and join
the first person under the cherry tree.They will bring drinks such as
tea,coffee or sake (a Japanese alcholic beverage).
I saw a few people layind down on
the canvas reading novels/books.I walked around on the paths in the center of
the park where a lot of people also were strolling enjoying the cherry
blossoms.The park was very clean.A large section was filled with big garbage
cans with a different label on each.They were for empty bottles,plastics
bags,paper,dry or wet things.Visitors put their litter in the proper
can.Cleaning – service officers stood by ready to empty any full garbage
can.How disciplined the Japanese people were! No wonder everywere it was
clean.I also saw some policemen walking around inspecting the park.Fascinated
by the cherry blossoms,I passed up the chance to visit temples,museums,and zoo
which were located in the park,too.
Time went very fast.Two hours had
gone so quickly.A chilly wind that blew in the afternoon made me aware of the
time.It had became colder in the park,I had to leave the park to visit other
places.Goodbye,cherry blossom,and sayonara and Ueno Park!
