Easter Sunday

Late March and early April is a busy time of year in Japan. Luckily, amidst the flurry of meetings and trainings, there are also flurries of cherry blossoms! Taking the time to relax and appreciate the beauty of spring -- especially with good food and fun friends! -- has been really wonderful!

This Easter Sunday, Chad and I went cherry blossom viewing with a woman from my gym and her granddaughter. The weather was perfect, and the cherry blossoms were just bursting with beauty. Below, our fine feast is pictured:

Top Left: Karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken)
Middle Row: Tempura, more Tempura, and Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)
Bottom: Deviled Eggs, Carrot Cake Cupcakes, and Huge Oranges!
(Can you guess who made what food?)



Relaxing with full bellies!



Volleyball shots:

After about three and a half hours of relaxing at the park, we headed home. What a wonderful way to spend Easter!

Hope your Easter was as blessed with food and friendship as ours was ~~!

Sakura at Starbucks

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Spring is on everyone's mind! It doesn't help that stores are rife with advertisements and products showing cherry blossoms. Not to be left out, Starbucks has introduced a whole line of sakura products, ranging from mugs and teddy bears, to steamers, frappuccinos and cakes.

I usually don't frequent Starbucks too often, as it's quite similar to the ones back home and just as expensive (but for smaller sizes!). However, I can't resist when Western franchises "glocalize" and create local specialties! I met a woman from my gym and decided to try the Sakura Steamer.

The verdict? Not bad. I liked the actual drink well enough, but the special pink toppings tasted a bit like plastic. I decided I'd stick with a Chai Tea Latte in the future--but that didn't prevent me from bringing a little sakura home to Chad!

Sakura Sweet Pan (Pan is pronounced Pahn, and it means "bread")

Chad thought the cupcake was okay (it tasted a little soapy). It sure looked pretty though--it even had a real flower on top!

Is everything filled with anko, or sweet bean paste here? :-)

Our Sakura experience at Starbucks may have been less than amazing, but seeing the real cherry blossoms is going to be great! We are eagerly anticipating the season along with the picnics and sunshine.

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Cherry Blossom Season has Arrived!

The cherry blossoms have bloomed and for the next week and a half or so we are in for some beautiful scenery. During this time of year, everyone gets together underneath sakura (cherry blossoms) to appreciate the flowers' beauty. Additionally, people bring food (like obentos, or boxed lunches) and drinks (from sake and beer, to green tea and so on), to celebrate the cherry blossom season all day long. There are also stalls set up in the more popular viewing areas at which you can buy food (similar to the stalls mentioned in our fetility festival post, sans penis).

I never really thought about the history of it all--I just thought it was symbolic of new life and all the sorts of things that come with spring. However, one of the lessons I was teaching included a discussion question that made me wonder more about the origins of cherry blossom viewing. The questions asks why people first began to celebrate this annual event, and how the manner in which people take part in the event has changed over the years. To my astonishment, class after class, none of my students knew much about how this whole thing got started. This brings to the forefront the way cherry blossom viewing is often more about a day-long (or week long) party than about "what it all means."

I read a bit about cherry blossom viewing origins, and there are several theories as to how and when cherry blossom viewing started on a nationwide scale. Most people seem to agree that flower viewing became specific to cherry blossoms after The Tale of Genji was written (there is a sakura party featured in the novel). Symbolic of the beginning of rice-planting season, a prediction about the outcome of the following year's harvest, and deeper contamplations regarding the impermanence of life, beauty, etc., these beautiful flowers became an annual draw. I think that people still recognize the allure of these elegant little blossoms, but that the season has transformed into one in which people celebrate each other's love and friendship, too. And perhaps, like many speculate, many people just really like to party.

Yesterday, I went for a run along the river near our apartment and the area is just so beautiful that I decided to go for a walk later to take some pictures. Over the next week, we'll be attending several hanami (flower viewing) parties, and will be sure to post many pictures, but for now you'll just have to be content with (and jealous of) these. ^^

Take care! Love, Chad and Caitlyn