Japanese spring culture

I almost forgot to post my cherry blossom viewing pictures!

Right now, in Japan, it's supposed to be spring.

I say 'supposed to be' because even though there were a few warm days at first, lately it's been like early winter cold...and it's not fun, especially because it means perfect weather to catch a cold (which I did. However, I am finally better now.)

Anyways, it's really amazing how Japanese people are so sensitive to and enjoy appreciating the changes in weather and seasons. There are special foods and events for each season.

In the spring, Japanese people go cherry blossom viewing ('hanami'). This year, the cherry blossoms bloomed really late in Tokyo. Everything was not completely in bloom until the end of March, beginning of April. But still, I was lucky enough to participate in the famous Japanese tradition with some friends after class on Saturday April 7. We walked to a park near Keio's Mita campus called 'Shiba Koen' (lit. Grass Park).

This was a shrine along the way with its entrance in full bloom.

 This is the entrance to the park. It was packed with people doing cherry blossom viewing!

 Everyone had their own large blue mats to sit on. There were even tents! Apparently, some really dedicated people stalk out a place and stay overnight...Well, it does get unexpectedly crowded, so I don't blame them. My friends and I almost didn't find a spot. 

 A view of Tokyo Tower through the blossoms.

It got really cold as the day progressed, so we all went for tea and coffee afterwards.

Before we left, though, we got a guy to take our picture for us.

This is the group I went with: (left to right) Me, Hyo-Jeong, Hyo-Jeong's friend (I forgot her name...), Saki, In, and Azusa.

 My dorm was also in full bloom!

I took this picture for mother, because it reminded me of our old backyard.

 These are some of my favorite flowers--sakurasou! (primroses) I think their heart-shaped petals are cute...A few of them are growing in my dorm's garden, so I took a picture.

 To the Japanese, cherry blossom viewing isn't limited to the daytime. Nighttime cherry blossoms are also considered very beautiful, and nighttime cherry blossom viewing is as popular as daytime viewing. After my conversation club two Tuesdays ago, we all went to go see the blossoms in Nakameguro.

 Lanters are lit and groups of friends sit around even on the side of the streets drinking, eating, talking, and taking in the view.

Another traditional Japanese custom that pays special attention to the seasons is tea ceremony.

Because I signed up for a Japanese culture class at my school, I'm able to participate in tea ceremony every Saturday for free! Our teacher is so cute and nice and always wears a beautiful kimono to class.

This is the classroom setting. The trays on the left are our tea trays; the objects in the center are the special charcoal used to fuel the fire to heat the tea kettle and a traditional Japanese candle which was made out of plant fibers rather than wax; the screen in the right corner displays the proverb of the day and below that (really tiny) is the daily flower arrangement.

 We learn how to behave at a tea ceremony, how to place our fan, how to fold our napkin, etc. This is the fan and napkin. A fan is just used for decoration and to mark your place in the case that you have to get up during the ceremony. The napkin is used to wipe your utensils as you use them. There's a procedure for everything, which can get confusing sometimes, but at the same time, it's amazingly beautiful and elegant.

The little box on the side is the tea container--the design is for the doll's festival--and we are given a tea scoop (the long wooden stick) and a wooden pick to eat our sweet (the shorter stick).

 This is the sweet of the day, called 'wagashi' (Japanese sweet). Unfortunately, the teacher only said it was perfectly fine to take pictures after I had already cut it...There's always a larger soft sweet served with chopsticks and a harder tiny sweet that you take with your hands. The sweet of the day yesterday was a pink sugar flower topped mocchi cake filled red bean paste and tiny green tea mocchi squares. You eat the sweet first so that your mouth fills with sweetness to prepare it for the bitter tea.

 And the tea is really bitter......Nothing like the matcha lattes at Starbucks haha. I mean, I expected this and I've had matcha tea straight before, but bitter is bitter... I saw that Hyo-Jeong was eating her sweet with her tea rather than simply before it. I realized that was a smart thing to do. I'll do that next time... 

By the way, the cup was decorated with a 'kabuto', a war mask used to celebrate boy's day. I was delighted to see my cup, with its boy's day image, and tea container, with its girl's day image, kind of made a pair!