Hanami: Blossom Viewing Party
Kitao Shigemasa’s eighteenth-century
hanami (flower viewing) party scene shows three women and a man at Asukayama Park—opened by Japanese Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751), who had its famous cherry trees planted there in 1720. Comfortably arranged on a ground cover inside a partial enclosure, they are likely enjoying warmed sake. Such parties continue to be a thriving Japanese pastime—replete with traditional sake and picnic blankets laid out hours in advance at the best sakura viewing spots. Above the image is a haiku poem describing both arboreal and human “blossoms”:
Murekitaru / Hana mata hana no / Asukayama
All flocked together / Blossoms upon blossoms / Asuka Hill
Kitao Shigemasa’s eighteenth-century <em>hanami</em> (flower viewing) party scene shows three women and a man at Asukayama Park—opened by Japanese Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751), who had its famous cherry trees planted there in 1720. Comfortably arranged on a ground cover inside a partial enclosure, they are likely enjoying warmed sake. Such parties continue to be a thriving Japanese pastime—replete with traditional sake and picnic blankets laid out hours in advance at the best sakura viewing spots. Above the image is a haiku poem describing both arboreal and human “blossoms”:</p>
<p>Murekitaru / Hana mata hana no / Asukayama
All flocked together / Blossoms upon blossoms / Asuka Hill