Cherry blossom viewing - 花見

Last Sunday NEO held a cherry blossom viewing party by the Asahi River near Korakoen.

I put the ground sheet out at 7:30 in the morning. I used a 24 tatami sized sheet. After saving our space, I went back home to relax until noon. On my way home, I stopped at the farmer’s market in Kyoubashi for some peach juice.

It was a gorgeous day, so many people were out enjoying the blossoms and pleasant weather. The food stalls had long lines around lunch time. I bought some fried sweet potatoes for my son and a chicken leg on the bone for myself.

Some people stopped by for just few minutes to say hello, and other people spent time with us all day, chatting and sharing some delicious food.

People were coming and going all afternoon. I did my best to say hello and goodbye to everybody and to also talk and take pictures with everybody. I think I missed some photo chances with some people, though. Sorry if I missed you.

The sakura trees were in full bloom, I was worried about that earlier in March.

Many NEO students were outgoing enough to chat with strangers and foreigners at the party. It was a great chance to use English in a real conversation!

Ayumi enjoyed all of the cute children that came to the party.

It was hot around noon, but then some clouds came and the temperature cooled down a bit. In the evening, it got chilly as the sun went down.

A portion of the trees are lit up at night, my picture here is not doing it justice at all….

The trees look like fluffy pink popcorn at night.