It’s spring in Tsukuba. The crocuses and daffodils are coming out and the plum trees are blossoming in delicate clouds of pink and white. This is the season when the Japanese like to engage in “flower viewing,” having a picnic and getting drunk under the flowering trees.
Last week we went to see Kairakuen Park which is famous for its plum blossoms. On the weekends during the plum blossom season, the trains even make a special stop right in front of the garden. Since we went on a Thursday, we had to take a bus from the station, but at least the park was only moderately crowded rather than jam-packed. There is an area at the top of the bluffs with literally hundreds of different varieties of plum trees. In some ways it’s not that attractive because there’s too much of the same thing with no contrast, although it does have a spectacular impact from a distance. In the lower part of the park the plum trees are more mixed in with other trees and it was, to our minds, more attractive. There was also a nice bamboo grove, and there’s an area where they’ve planted beds of crocus in between the plum trees which makes a nice picnic area. We walked back to the train station along a small lake and saw a number of black swans resting on or preparing their nests.
After the plum blossoms come the cherry blossoms. They are a bit larger and showier, but also more fragile, easily lost in a strong wind. For the Japanese, cherry blossoms symbolize the bittersweet beauty of the ephemeral. During WWII, cherry blossoms were associated with the suicide pilots because their lives were cut short while they were still in the bloom of youth. Today, cherry blossoms are also associated with new beginnings. The Japanese school year ends in March and starts in April. So young children begin school and teenagers enter college in the season of the cherry blossoms. Because most college students are recruited during their senior year, cherry blossom season is also the time when new recruits are entering Japanese companies. Throughout the city one can see young adults dressed in black business suits. (Not navy blue. Not grey pinstripe. Only solid black will do for the company-entering rituals.) Even the retailers get into the spirit of the season with plastic displays of cherry blossoms advertising Coca-Cola or this week’s special. It’s spring in Tsukuba!
Last week we went to see Kairakuen Park which is famous for its plum blossoms. On the weekends during the plum blossom season, the trains even make a special stop right in front of the garden. Since we went on a Thursday, we had to take a bus from the station, but at least the park was only moderately crowded rather than jam-packed. There is an area at the top of the bluffs with literally hundreds of different varieties of plum trees. In some ways it’s not that attractive because there’s too much of the same thing with no contrast, although it does have a spectacular impact from a distance. In the lower part of the park the plum trees are more mixed in with other trees and it was, to our minds, more attractive. There was also a nice bamboo grove, and there’s an area where they’ve planted beds of crocus in between the plum trees which makes a nice picnic area. We walked back to the train station along a small lake and saw a number of black swans resting on or preparing their nests.
After the plum blossoms come the cherry blossoms. They are a bit larger and showier, but also more fragile, easily lost in a strong wind. For the Japanese, cherry blossoms symbolize the bittersweet beauty of the ephemeral. During WWII, cherry blossoms were associated with the suicide pilots because their lives were cut short while they were still in the bloom of youth. Today, cherry blossoms are also associated with new beginnings. The Japanese school year ends in March and starts in April. So young children begin school and teenagers enter college in the season of the cherry blossoms. Because most college students are recruited during their senior year, cherry blossom season is also the time when new recruits are entering Japanese companies. Throughout the city one can see young adults dressed in black business suits. (Not navy blue. Not grey pinstripe. Only solid black will do for the company-entering rituals.) Even the retailers get into the spirit of the season with plastic displays of cherry blossoms advertising Coca-Cola or this week’s special. It’s spring in Tsukuba!
1 comment:
Mom and I were reading your wonderful stories. We truely enjoyed them. I have been in Nevada for a week now, and leave tomorrow for home. Dad is doing well. He looks great and is eating us out of the house. Such a change from last week. We are all trying to get Mom to have knee surgery during the 3rd or 4th week of July. Hopefully, Wes can come out for awhile in August. Everyone is doing pretty well, here. Rick is visiting also. He leaves with me tomorrow. I guess the folks will be alone for Easter. I have to hustle to get things ready when I get back home. Keep the news coming. We love to read it. OH, and say HI to Wes for us. You are both in our thoughts. Love, Valerie
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