Festival-us for the rest-of-all-of-us

I spent last weekend at the Asanogawa river festival. It’s an annual event, and even though it was overcast and drizzly, I still had my fill of meat on a stick. It featured performances by geisha, food, cherry blossoms, food, beer, food, and like all of the best events in Japan, food.

Happy Hanami!

Hanami is the custom of viewing cherry blossoms. For one week every year, Japan explodes into a wonderland of delicate pink and white clouds, such that you feel like you are wandering through heaven.

For this fleeting time, people gather with family and friends to enjoy the scenery and even the most hardened of corporate drones can be caught smiling. Although many writers and poets have attempted to share this season, the true power of hanami can only be appreciated when contrasted with the oppressive Japanese work week and the depressing winter weather that precedes it.

Although neither words nor pictures can capture the beauty or spirit of the season, here are a few anyways.

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.” – Katsumoto, The Last Samurai

Not just sake

I've recently realized my blog is sorely lacking in one of the most interesting curiosities Japan has to offer. Food. As with cellphones, Japanese people have little patience for consistency in regard to drinks and snacks. That's why you have to buy a years supply of the delicious fruit flavoured Kit Kat balls that you discovered last week, because they'll be discontinued by next week. So let me introduce you to two beverages that had a one week engagement at my local convenience store.

Pepsi Ice Cucumber. Why did it take so long for someone to think of this? I was asking myself the same thing when I came across it. I can't count the number of times I've longed for a drinkable cucumber on a hot summers day, but to my despair, only lemonade presented itself to quench my thirst. And nothing says potable quite like bright green. I think this beverage may contain the secret of the ooze. It actually didn't taste bad. That's not to say that it tasted good. It had a generic carbonated beverage taste with a mild hint of cucumber, kind of like chewing gum with chlorophyll or the grass flavoured Harry Potter Jelly beans. I'd drink it again, but I doubt I'd ever crave it.


Canada Dry Sakura Mist. For those wondering, sakura means cherry blossom, and is highly revered in Japan. They blanket the more fortunate areas of Japan for a fleeting week, and with them signal the beginning of spring. Sakura are harvested and used in many traditional Japanese sweets as well as more contemporary confections, like Kit Kats. This is however, the first time I've seen them put in pop. This drink is admittedly better than the cucumber one, and has a light cherryish taste without any suggestion of cough syrup. As with most pop, it's mostly sugar, but it's not very strong tasting, and I'd buy it again.