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Hanami

Perhaps the average Japan enthusiast at one point or another has been exposed to the Japanese springtime ritual of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing.

Either he or she has heard about this cultural event or perhaps joined the crowds of friends, families, or colleagues to eat and drink in the day or nighttime on blue tarps under the cherry blossoms.

During this season, Japanese magazines, guidebooks, and websites are filled with cherry blossom maps listing the best viewing spots and charting the blossoms’ growth from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Equally, or perhaps more important depending on whom you speak to, are the foods and particularly the beverages such as beer or sake that are prepared for the hanami gathering. While various homemade spring vegetables, rice balls, and sushi are the traditional menu for hanami bentos (boxed lunches), sandwiches and other artistic dishes decorated with pink foods and flowers to match the spring atmosphere are also common.

Barbeques, box lunch take-outs from department or convenient stores, or simply munching on nearby food stand snacks are also suitable options. Stopping by a patisserie or traditional Japanese confectionary store for sakura flavored confectionaries such as a sakura rice cake or a less traditional sakura cake is popular as well. There are also regional hanami dishes such as in Hokkaido where it is typical for people to gather and eat barbecue or lamb barbecue under the cherry blossoms.