lydamorehouse: (ichigo hot)
[personal profile] lydamorehouse
 Kawazuzakura Blossoms in Minamizu, Izu Peninsula in Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Image: Kawazuzakura Blossoms in Minamiizu, (Izu Peninsula in Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) along the Aono River.

Obviously, I did a HeyGo last night. Eriko (and her ever-present mom) are doing a trip around Japan to follow the cherry blossoms as they open. Last night (or rather, their morning,) Eriko and her mom were in Minamiizu town, which is fairly far south (see Wikipedia map, below). Apparently, the blossoms that are open now are a very specific type, Kawazuzakura (that last part sakura, simply means cherry blossom, the 's' changes to a 'z' sound in combination, sometimes,) that were developed in that region. The link takes you to a beginner's guide to all the different kinds of cherry blossoms, but if you scroll down to early blossoming trees, it is the second one listed. 

map showing location of Minamiizu
Image: Minamiizu on the map of Japan. Yoinked from Wikipedia.

Erika is always a good tour guide. Her signal was only pixelated at one point, and, while I was a bit frustrated, I said to Shawn, "When you consider that this is happening, live, right now, halfway around the world, this is actually pretty amazing." And, really, the blip only lasted for a few minutes, tops. I will admit that, since this happened over dinner time, I did not listen to all of Erika's patter. I watched on my iPad and propped it up so Shawn could watch, too. 

In my opinion, the thing that is lovelist about the Hanami (a celebration that translates literally as "flower look") is that really, this is the point of it. To spend time sitting under a cherry tree and just look at it. People bring picnics, of course, and those can become a BIG (commercial) deal, as witnessed by this cherry themed BEER that Erika showed off--

Cherry flavored beer? I hope not, probably just decorated for Hanami
Image: Cherry flavored beer? I hope not, probably just decorated for Hanami

--But, the whole point of it is to slow down, take a breath, sit under a tree and ADMIRE it.

Do we have holidays like that in the US? Possibly the closest we get is Thanksgiving, which, in its purest form, is a holiday about eating something yummy, but there's a bunch of other weird colonial stuff attached to it that makes it less... I dunno, just about something SIMPLE, like admiring nature. 

close-up on blossoms
Image: blossom close-up

Aono River with cherry trees
Image: Aono river with cherry trees in bloom

Anyway, with piles of snow coming down today, seeing cherry trees in bloom has been a lovely treat. 

The only thing that kind of amuses me is that Erika was explaining at one point that the plumes of white smoke we were seeing from the far bank were from sentos (hot springs,) and I suddenly wondered... does most of rural Japan smell like Yellowstone? Which is to say, like a fart?

Apparently, I am not the first to google this because the quick answer seems to be "yes, but it's a light scent." So, maybe not so surprisingly strong like in Yellowstone. I just remember when we went to Yellowstone this was the thing that NO ONE had mentioned. That the entire town of Coby and all of the park smelled like a rotten egg. I mean, it doesn't diminish the beauty? But, it was a detail I was NOT expecting, you know?

At any rate, happy Tuesday to you all. 

Date: 2022-02-22 05:39 pm (UTC)
naomikritzer: (Default)
From: [personal profile] naomikritzer
Iceland also smells of sulphur, and in some areas it is INTENSE.

Kiera actually found this deeply upsetting and had to bail on a hike to a hot river because we had to walk through clouds of steam from nearby hot springs and she just hit. her. limit. She said she'd meet us back at the car and turned around.

Date: 2022-02-22 09:02 pm (UTC)
mindstalk: (Default)
From: [personal profile] mindstalk
Or evolution's way of saying "turn around, this could kill you".

Date: 2022-02-22 06:31 pm (UTC)
minnehaha: (Default)
From: [personal profile] minnehaha
I can report that cherry beer can be delish. The Belgians call it kriek and I have bought this at the Falls liquor store just north of Minnehaha Park for illegal consumption in the park. I have also bought and enjoyed a Wisconsin cherry beer (Door Co. cherries, of course) made by New Glarus Brewing and called Wisconsin Belgian Red. Only available in WI, though.

If the Japanese are adding cherry flavor to Asahi beer, I join your skepticism.

I have a lot of love for the cherry blossoms of spring, in part because I am a native Marylander, born inside the Beltway, and have seen the cherry blossoms in DC around the Tidal Pool many times. So thanks for sharing the sakura in this post.

K.

Date: 2022-02-22 07:08 pm (UTC)
ursula: bear eating salmon (Default)
From: [personal profile] ursula
In Michigan, Bell's does a seasonal cherry stout that is delicious. It's timed for winter stout-drinking, though, not cherry blossom season!

Date: 2022-02-22 07:49 pm (UTC)
ursula: bear eating salmon (Default)
From: [personal profile] ursula
Fair!

(As a newish Michigan resident I am obligated to report on the cherries. It's like Wisconsin and cheese, only a little more moderate.)

Date: 2022-02-22 09:05 pm (UTC)
mindstalk: (Default)
From: [personal profile] mindstalk
Does seem early for ohanami! But I should start paying more attention to Heygo for that.

My main social group would do it in Boston. It was a hunt to find the right weekend. Late April/early May for us. Early April when I was in DC (just me, but I went to go look at them.)

Date: 2022-02-23 02:45 am (UTC)
mindstalk: (Default)
From: [personal profile] mindstalk
Seems to be early February for Okinawa, late March/early April for central Honshu, early May for Hokkaido. DC is 38 north and Tokyo 35 north, makes sense they'd have similar dates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami

I dunno why 'ohanami' vs. 'hanami'.

Yeah, does help to have a lot of cherry trees in one place. There's a stretch of MIT by the river that has them lined up.

Haha, well I did, most of us have left Boston now.

Date: 2022-02-22 10:23 pm (UTC)
sartorias: (Default)
From: [personal profile] sartorias
The closest is the leaf peepers back east in autumn. (And B&B prices reflect it, sadly.)

Date: 2022-02-23 03:23 am (UTC)
sartorias: (Default)
From: [personal profile] sartorias
:-D

BTW that icon looks a lot like Gin!

Date: 2022-02-22 11:35 pm (UTC)
sabotabby: raccoon anarchy symbol (Default)
From: [personal profile] sabotabby
I dream of one day seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan (we do have them here but it's not the same and we don't do a whole holiday for it, though we should).

June 2025

S M T W T F S
123 4 5 67
8 9 10 11 12 1314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 15th, 2025 12:36 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios