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Photographic delirium #3: Ume and sakura season |
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Long overdue this delirium! I went to Canada for Christmas but did not have the chance to really good pictures worth putting in my home page. Finally, the ume and sakura season have been wonderful this year and I finally got a good photographic delirium! I am proud to present the frenzies of the ume (plum) and sakura (cherry) blossom sightseeing of Japan, also known as "Hanami". Photographing flowers is not easy at all! They are difficult subject because they are small, randomly placed, of very uniform colors and with breeze, moving all the time! More often than not, pictures turn out unexcitingc So, where is the promised delirium? A culture that uses even snowfall as an excuse to drink and enjoy could not help but invent a far more frolicking outdoor delight for the blossoming springtime. This event is called hanami, or the cherry blossom viewing party. Hanami is, in my view, an event unique to Japanese culture.
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Because hanami literally means "blossom viewing," blossoms are a must. Some would say drunkards at hanami parties are too intoxicated to view cherry blossoms, but hanami wouldn't exist without the blossoms. The hanami party season can't begin until the blossoms arrive. The appreciation of flowers by individuals is a common leisure activity in Japan as well as in other countries. There are also parties and meetings where friends get together to eat and drink. People sharing the same ideas may also come together. Very often, there will be karaoke (singing) with folkloric and romantic songs. |
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Although the sakura (cherry blossoms) is by far the most popular flower of Japan, ume (Japanese plum) flowers, that bloom earlier, is also very beautiful. Ume flowers are actually very similar to the sakura ones but will tend to a few per branches while sakura are flocking all over the tree. Hence, the sakura are more impressing. But ume flowers have their irresistible tendency to charm any passerby.
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I did a photographic delirium stunt in the middle of March to Tsumago & Magome, two villages in the Japanese mountains not so far from Nagoya (1 hour by car) so they can be enjoyed for a one-day trip. Interestingly, when we arrived, it was snowing lightly. The ume flowers were there thriving in the frosty light wind. The ume flowers have one thing that they do not envy to the sakura, they blossom in many different colorful style but white, pink are just the most common ones! |
Kyoto remains the most Japanese city in Japan and the area of Arashiyama and the path of philosophy are well known for their beautiful sakura trees and large crowd, admiring and enjoying, are often packed during the sakura season. It is very easy to do photography because the ambience is wonderfully romantic and Kyoto is a ideal theme in itself. While I was strolling on the path of philosophy, I was mostly thinking about photography. Hum! The old haiku masters would not be proud of me... To repay my debts, I decided to print a typical Japanese poem also known as haiku made by the poet Kenichi Yamamoto.
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Your letter
Buds of Ume flowers
Yellow daffodils
Spinning
A long way away
In full bloom
Colors of rain
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