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Apr 06 2012 18 Comments

Early or late hanami?

After the curtailment of cherry blossom-related festivities last year, there’ll be no holding back whatsoever this time. In fact, so keen are revellers to get sat down and sink a beverage or two, that many areas are already busy, despite there being very little in the way of blooms, let alone a beautiful blanket of them.

However, for this elderly hanami gathering, it’s hard to decide whether it was an early, or late visit.

Japanese hanami

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Categorized: Culture, Photography

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Comments

  1. Meow • Japan & Urbex says

    4/6/2012 at 4:13 pm

    This shot is superb…

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/7/2012 at 10:37 am

      Thanks a lot!

      Reply
  2. Ed says

    4/6/2012 at 11:46 pm

    So is its title.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/7/2012 at 10:38 am

      Yes, although more late than early…

      Reply
  3. Linette says

    4/6/2012 at 11:52 pm

    What a sweet image. Maybe growing old is not such a bad thing if you can still picnic with a bunch of friends. Do you suppose the woman in the previous image was in charge of all the picnic supplies?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/7/2012 at 10:39 am

      That’s funny. I hadn’t thought of that!

      Reply
  4. Jeffrey says

    4/7/2012 at 1:04 am

    I’d love to know what they are all thinking. Assuming they are all in their 70s-90s, they been through a lot in their lifetimes.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/7/2012 at 10:43 am

      I know, between them they must have seen and experienced an unimaginable amount of things, let alone changes. I guess events like hanami may well have been one of the few constants.

      Reply
      • Juan says

        4/7/2012 at 11:19 am

        What makes Hanami special is the poignancy of its duration. The flowers are beautiful for only a spell, for the blink of an eye, and then they are gone. Is this not the same as our lives?

        Years ago these seniors may have visited as children, playing under other flowers, giving themselves fully to those moments and thinking they would last forever. Yet, those flowers are now gone, wilted, forgotten.

        Today they face the end of their own Hanami. Maybe in their memories, they still play under the flowers.

        Reply
        • Jeffrey says

          4/7/2012 at 1:03 pm

          This Hiroshige ukiyo-e has always been for me the embodiment of hanami and mono no aware.

          http://www.carolynstaleyprints.com/main.php?g2_itemId=8352&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

          Reply
          • Lee says

            4/7/2012 at 7:29 pm

            That’s very true Juan. Such thoughts, and their expressions, make the image a very sad for one for me. Yet a few people have told me they find it uplifting to see those people still enjoying a spot of hanami. I guess it all depends which you look at it.

            Cheers for the link, Jeffrey, that’s a wonderful image.

            Reply
            • AV says

              4/19/2012 at 4:36 am

              Felt the same abut your enjoying decayed buildings – the desolation takes some getting used to before any other feeling might settle in.

              Reply
  5. winnie says

    4/7/2012 at 10:19 am

    They looked very quiet and sorts of disappointment. Wondered are they enjoying the Hanami because they seemed solemn to me in this picture.
    Might be too early visit ?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/7/2012 at 10:46 am

      Their rather sad expressions are what caught my eye. It was a bit early, but the park had a nice atmosphere on the day I took the photo. Perhaps it was just that moment, but I really don’t know.

      Reply
  6. fabrice says

    4/7/2012 at 2:15 pm

    Beautiful pictures, caught the moment.
    I feel like joining them ^^

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/9/2012 at 4:29 pm

      If you did, they’d certainly have a few stories to tell, that’s for sure.

      Reply
  7. misiltan says

    4/9/2012 at 3:59 am

    lovely shot. seems they are enjoying sakura and bento :))

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/9/2012 at 4:29 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply

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