Oh Hanami!

Every spring, people gather under blossoming cherry trees to celebrate the ephemerality of this world. Or, at least that’s how I like to imagine it is, but it’s much closer to an opportunity to get drunk while admiring some flowers, which isn’t a bad thing to be doing in the first place.

It is a wonderful time of year and actually my favorite season. I had never really experienced seasons until I had moved to the mainland, and even then, I lived in places like Boise and Las Vegas, both desert, arid locations so not a lot of foliage for me to see the wonder that is spring.

Here, though, I experience that amazing unfurling of life after a cold and windy winter, and it moves me every time. When spring comes, I am ready for it. I am not a big fan of winter. I like snow. It’s pretty to look at and especially gorgeous as you sit in an outdoor onsen as it falls on your half submerged naked body. I just don’t want to live in it.

Hanami was once considered an activity done only by royalty or the court but now everyone enjoys the array of white and pink popcorn poofs while dining on karaage, takoyaki, bento, or whatever strikes their fancy. Some people even bring bbq grills.

When I left the park last night, I could see the grove of cherry trees on Mt. Kannon above Takasaki. The statue of the goddess lit in an electric blue beside it. And a poem from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu came to my tired mind.

高砂の                        Takasago no
尾の上の桜                  Onoe no sakura
咲きにけり                  Saki ni keri
外山の霞                     Toyama no kasumi
たたずもあらなん         Tatazu mo aranan

This poem written by Oe no Masafusa captures the feeling of admiring a view so beautiful that you hope nothing will block it. There are several translations available but I think I might try my hand at it as I was inspired by the trees on that slightly distant mountain.

On that mountain’s slope,
We witness the blossoms of
Cherry trees in bloom.
Oh mists of the mountain’s side
Please don’t hide this sight.

I hope you enjoyed that. I know I did. I tried to keep the tanka poem form but translation is never an easy task. There is usually more of the translator in the work than there is the original artist, which is definitely true here.

I have tonight and tomorrow to enjoy the blossoms in my park and on that slightly distant mountain and I am very much looking forward to it.