{"id":24030,"date":"2015-04-09T09:13:37","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T13:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=24030"},"modified":"2015-04-08T12:14:59","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T16:14:59","slug":"hanami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/04\/09\/hanami\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanami"},"content":{"rendered":"This time of year ushers in several new\u00a0beginnings in Tokyo. It marks the beginning of the University of Tokyo's school year, Japan's\u00a0fiscal year, and spring, represented in the cherry blossoms (sakura<\/em>) decorating\u00a0the city.\r\n\r\n
\"This<\/a>
Inokashira Park - I walk through here every day on my way to and from the station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nFriends, families, and co-workers congregate\u00a0in parks all over Tokyo around this time of year to participate in an event called 'hanami,' or 'flower viewing.' It involves gathering\u00a0in a park, laying down a tarp on the ground, and enjoying food and drinks together in a sort of picnic under the cherry blossoms. This event is so popular in certain Tokyo parks, e.g.\u00a0Ueno Park, that people arrive in the early hours of the morning just to claim a spot in the park for the afternoon and\/or\u00a0evening.\r\n\r\n\"This<\/a>\r\n\r\nAfter class on Monday, I met with\u00a0friends from Hiroshima and Tokyo to\u00a0hang out\u00a0under the blossoms at Inokashira Park. We began the afternoon by meeting up at\u00a0Kichijoji\u00a0station and heading\u00a0to a\u00a0nearby convenience store to pick up food and drinks for the\u00a0hanami<\/em>.\r\n\r\n
\"This<\/a>
A street in Kichijoji, near Inokashira Park. [source<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n
\"This<\/a>
Yakitori!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nWe\u00a0scavenged the park until\u00a0we finally found an empty patch of ground to sit on. After hanging out for a bit, we were joined by some people sitting near\u00a0us - two of whom happened to have studied\u00a0in Toronto before.\r\n\r\n
\"This<\/a>
He joined us too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\"wpid-1428311991183.jpg\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nWe spent the next few hours\u00a0under the blossoms sharing stories from our spring breaks.\u00a0Similar to me, most of my exchange student friends spent the break traveling around the country.\u00a0Many of my Japanese friends went home to their respective hometowns during the break.\r\n\r\n
\"wpid-img_20150402_230320.jpg\"<\/a>
More sakura from my walk home. In the Japanese language, there is a specific word referring to sakura seen at nighttime: '\u591c\u685c' or 'yozakura.'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nSince the\u00a0hanami<\/em>, I've been spending most of my time settling into the new semester. I'm spending more time at the University of Tokyo's Hongo Campus this time around. In some ways, I feel like I'm at an entirely new school; I get lost on a regular basis, and I've had to rekindle my relationship with Google Maps. Next week's post\u00a0might be my last, but I'll be sure to sneak in some impressions of Hongo\u00a0for the prospective exchange students reading this blog.\r\n\r\n