What hanami means
Hanami literally means “flower viewing.” In practice it refers to the spring custom of going out to enjoy flowering trees, most often cherry trees, alone or in company. The activity can be as small as a walk along a river or as large as a party of coworkers who spread out blue tarps in a park before sunrise to reserve a spot.
What makes hanami distinctive is not that people like flowers, which is true everywhere, but that the viewing is treated as an event with its own timing, vocabulary and manners. Newspapers and weather programs follow the blossoming, and friends plan outings around forecasts that can shift from day to day.
From plum to cherry
The earliest written records of flower viewing come from the Nara period, and the flower that mattered then was probably the plum. Plum trees were associated with China, whose poetry and gardens the court admired, and early poems about blossoms in the oldest surviving anthology of Japanese verse often feature plum.
Over the following centuries, attention shifted. By the Heian period, cherry blossoms had become the more important symbol, and in poems of the Heian court the word “flower” on its own often implies cherry. Courtiers held gatherings beneath blooming trees, composed verse and sometimes drank together. The poems of this era show an interest in how quickly the flowers fall, a feeling often discussed under the heading of mono no aware, a gentle awareness of things passing. The tradition of waka poetry gave these feelings a compact and widely shared form.
Warriors, commoners and parks
Blossom viewing did not stay with the aristocracy. In the late sixteenth century, the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi is well known for staging a large blossom-viewing party at Daigo, near Kyoto, in 1598, an event remembered as a display of power and taste. By then, the custom was also moving into temple grounds and public places.
During the Edo period, hanami became a pastime for Edo townspeople as well. Cherry trees were planted along rivers and in temple precincts, partly with the hope that people would come to admire them. Records and woodblock images from the time show crowds picnicking, singing and sometimes drinking heavily beneath the trees. Prints in the ukiyo-e tradition often depict these outings, which suggests how central they were to city life.
A variety known as Somei-yoshino, which blooms before its leaves appear and in dense clusters, became the dominant street and park tree in later centuries, which is why the image of a pale pink canopy is so familiar today. Other varieties bloom earlier or later, and some have deeper color or more petals, so the viewing season can stretch for weeks in one region.
The poetic frame
Hanami is more than a party because the flowers carry meanings built up over many centuries. A blossom lasts only a short time, and a rainy night can end it. This brevity is part of its attraction. Writers have often linked the blossoms to the passing of time, to youth, and to the way a moment can feel intense because it will not return.
That does not mean every person at a hanami picnic is thinking about transience. Many are simply enjoying the company, the weather and the food. Both attitudes, the reflective and the festive, have long existed side by side.
For a fuller account of the symbolism, the separate discussion of cherry blossoms looks at how the tree has been used in art, literature and, in some periods, politics. The wider habit of paying attention to the natural world is part of what people sometimes call a love of nature.
What a gathering looks like
A typical modern hanami has several recognizable elements.
- Reserving a spot. Groups, often organized by a junior member of a company or club, lay out a tarp early in the day.
- Food and drink. Packed meals, snacks and seasonal wagashi sweets are common; bento boxes are shared, and many adults bring beer, sake or other drinks.
- Evening viewing. Viewing at night, called yozakura, “night cherry blossoms,” is popular, with trees lit by lanterns or lamps. The mood is quieter and the pale petals seem to glow.
- Walking viewing. Many people simply stroll under the trees, especially along canals and avenues.
The tradition of toasting beneath the branches has a long history, and drinking customs, including sake brewing and its place in celebrations, are a subject of their own.
Manners and practical points
Because hanami is so popular, public places can become crowded, and a few courtesies are generally expected.
- Take your trash with you or use the bins provided.
- Do not break branches or shake trees to make petals fall.
- Do not climb the trees or walk on exposed roots, which are delicate.
- Keep noise reasonable, especially in residential areas and at temples and shrines.
- Respect spaces reserved by other groups, and avoid blocking paths.
Rules vary by place. Some parks restrict alcohol, fires or barbecues, and some temples and shrines treat the grounds as sacred space rather than picnic areas.
Beyond cherries
Although cherry gets most of the attention, many other flowers have their own viewing seasons: plum in late winter, wisteria and azalea in late spring, irises and hydrangeas in early summer, and so on. The same pattern holds for them. People travel to see them at their best, and poets and cooks mark the moment.
Fall has its own version in the viewing of red maple leaves, which is covered separately. The comparison between the two is often drawn, with blossoms standing for the burst of spring and leaves for a slower, more reflective season.
Why it endures
Hanami has lasted for more than a thousand years in various forms because it is flexible. It can be a poetic exercise, a social event, a family outing or a solitary walk. It connects ordinary people to something that has also occupied emperors, poets and painters. And because it depends on a specific week that cannot be predicted months ahead, it reminds people to look up and pay attention when the time comes.