Cherry blossom craze

One of the highlight of spring in Japan may be to see cherry trees in full blossom. Some may wonder why people make such fuss about. But you might get some idea if you had a chance to go through the chilly and cloudy days in winter and early spring here.

Most of the cherry trees planted in urban areas in Japan are called Someiyoshino. The prime of its blossoms are quite short, about one week at the most. Once in their prime, the trees looks like hoisting a huge fluffy pale pink cloud. It is perhaps this short life-span of the blossoms which attract people’s attention. It is sometimes magnificent to see them under clear blue sky, probably because of the contrast of colours.

Our office was located near a river in Tokyo called the Meguro river. The river is known for having rows of cherry trees on its banks. During springtime, the local community set up some lanterns underneath the cherry trees and light them up in the evening. The lanterns glow in soft pink, lighting up the blossom from underneath. It is something that make your feet stop to take a look, to see the river is shining, reflecting the dimly lit lanterns against cherry blossoms.

That year, I had a chance to see the blossom by the Meguro river during daytime when I went out during lunch break. It was slightly windy and cloudy day, and the branches full of fluffy blossoms are making waves in the wind.

Some plants tell a change of seasons. It may be similar to see daffodils or bluebells, or even fir trees for Christmas season in some countries. And I believe in most part of Japan, cherry blossoms may be one of the thing which signifies the beginning of warmer climate.

By this time, night time curfew and weekend quarantine were imposed. Many companies started to introduce reduced working hour, started shift work, and working from home. Yes, until then, working from home was not very popular. Some company didn’t have enough number of computers with decent protections. Some can’t do work from home because they are dealing with confidential information. People began to stay home as much as possible except essential shopping.