Mar 22, 2013

In Japan there is what is called 桜名所100選の地 Sakura Meisho Hyakusen-no-chi or the One Hundred Best Places for Sakura (cherry blossom) Viewing. If you’re looking for the nicest places for appreciating the beautiful but short-lived cherry blossoms then you can’t go wrong with this list. One of them is Mitsuike-koen in Yokohama, literally...

Apr 8, 2012

I’ve been asked by an acquaintance, who has been in Japan for about three months, about my favorite 花見 hanami (lit. “flower viewing”; is more like a “cherry blossom appreciation party”) spot in Tokyo. Kudos to her for wanting to go—a key to understanding Japan is to observe (or better yet, participate in) the phenomenon that is...