So how are you spending the new year? By new year, of course I mean the start of the new work/school year in Japan, which always arrives April 1st. Yes, some might say it's perfectly aligned to meet up with April Fool's, which when you think about it could lead to about the worst jokes you can imagine (You thought we really hired you?! April Fools!!... Punch).
Since it's not even associated with Japan really, I'd say April Fool's has nothing to do with Japan's starting of things today.
Though I'm sure the reason Japan picked April to start things comes from some time in the Meiji era, and it's probably due to some coincidence of timing, I would hazard a guess some of it has to be because of the cherry blossom trees. Almost like clockwork all over Tokyo and most of central Japan come end of March/beginning of April the landscape is blanketed with beautiful pink blossoms that last a week, maybe two at most, and then are gone. And as the petals fall and further blanket the land in pink, the green of spring pops up to replace them almost immediately. So it really feels like things are ending to begin again.
This year, like last year, we're having an oddly long winter. So yes, the blossoms are out in full force, but it's also pretty damn cold out, and after being in 90 degree weather in Vietnam for almost a week it feels even more cold.
So did you even bother with the cherry blossom viewing this year? I didn't, partly due to the cold weather but also because I've been a bit sick since I got back to Japan. If you were smart enough to get in the traditional hanami party before it got cold that would be a different story.
For people who don't know, a hanami (花見) is when a group of friends get together, lay out a tarp on the ground under the cherry blossoms, and share the warmth and companionship of spring in the best way I can imagine: by having picnic food and getting blasted on can beers and chu-hi. It's such a big deal that a lot of parks pull out all the stops and set up beer and food stalls. To be honest I've never been that much of a fan of getting drunk for getting drunk's sake, but hanami parties are usually fun, especially because you rarely go to them with people who aren't really friends.
OK, this has been a long, kind of rambling post about hanami season in Japan, so I'll bring it to a close with a funny thing I saw on TV today.
TV Asahi was doing one of the usual hanami reports, but rather than the endless interviews of drunk salarymen letting their ties loose, they decided to go at it from a different angle. They interviewed the homeless.
I had no idea but apparently hanami time is also a big time for homeless in Tokyo to collect cans to bring to recycling centers. So TV Asahi's idea was: who better to ask as a test of Japan's real economic state than the homeless? And they asked a few homeless guys about the hanami season this year.
And the answer: it's been an awesome year so far. More people brought real food and not just instant crap from the local conbini like last year, the number of beer cans they picked up were about double the usual, and a lot more of the cans were from premium beers instead of the 2nd and 3rd tier happoshu off beers.
Um... OK? I would hazard a reason last year's parties were subdued was the lingering aftereffects of the earthquake, but don't mind me, I'm not a TV personality.
I hope everyone has a good start. And if you're feeling well enough and brave enough to venture into the cold, crack open a cold one for me - preferably a premium beer.
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