Sakura and the fleeting nature of life

Behold, the essence of springtime cherry blossoms—meat on a stick and moderately priced whiskey presented with a background of sakura.

After a nightmarish winter that took the lives of all three of my house plants and gave me my first experience with frostbite, SPRING has finally arrived! Bits of life are returning despite the enduring chill and new green rice is growing in the previously brown fields. I heard my first thunder of the season earlier this week as the rolling booms chased rain down from the mountains and gave the waking earth a needed drink. But the most amazing and meaningful site of spring are the song-lyric-worthy blossoms of the cherry trees—the lovely and delicate sakura.

These pale pink blossoms are a welcome relief from winter and give the landscape an almost mythical swirl of color. Lying at the heart of Japanese culture, the cherry blossoms express the ephemeral nature of life in that they bloom, amaze, and blow away in a matter of weeks. Japan is a culture that appreciates the moment and savors the specialties of the season before they fade away into the next progression of life.



The typical way to enjoy these fleeting flowers is by having a picnic with friends and family under their branches—a practice referred to as “hanami” or “flower viewing”. The ingenuity of Japanese landscapers has given us local parks lined with cherry trees for just such an occasion and over the past week I’ve been fortunate enough to have several opportunities to experience hanami with my dear JET friends.

When one enters a sakura park, sound seems to soften as if the dense blossoms are absorbing the murmur of voices and clattering of everyday life. One’s eyes sweep the scene and one thinks, “Holy geisha ninjas, these are lovely—I must enjoy them before they all blow away!” Then one takes out one’s camera and proceeds to take photo after photo of the ornamental trees…all the while thinking, life is fleeting…life is fleeting…


At Usuki Castle Park, there were groups of old folks laughing and playing games with a casualness that said, “I’ve been doing this all my life. Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.” There was also a man with a baby that cried every time one of us foreigners approached as if the baby was saying, “You’re scary because you’re different…but all the same, please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting…”



At Usa Shrine, a drunken pair of parents offered Steph and me a beer while their kids looked on in terror. I didn’t understand much of the parents were saying, but amongst the slurred Nihongo I’m sure they were urging, “Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.”



At a park in Nakatsu, a tall lady outside the public restroom pointed at the cherry trees in the soft evening light and said, “Miteblablablablablablabla!” which I’m sure meant, “Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.”



So that’s what I’ve been doing…enjoying the sakura…for life is indeed fleeting.