Hanami Parties: A Wild and Fun-Filled Affair

The beautiful country of Japan boasts of unique and peculiar sightseeing experiences to the visitors. Though it’s good to visit the country during any time of the year but spring has its own forte. This is the season of flower blooming, as the whole country is immersed in the beauty of cherry blossom and plum flower. 

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Typically, the plum flowers bloom in the early spring and continue for a longer duration. Family and friends enjoy together at the hot spots and soak in the glory of plum flowers. They revel and party till late night and relish good foods and drinks on the location.

This season continues for a good part of spring months. Once the plum trees start shedding their flowers, cherry blossom festival sets in. This festival is one of the major attractions in Japan during the spring season. Tourists from around the world flock this country especially to view blossoming of cherry flowers.

There is a special term for flower viewing in Japan, Hanami. This term can also be referred to taking a walk under or partying under Sakura trees.

Hanami parties are quite popular in this country. Virtually, you can find whole country participating in such parties at different locations.

It’s a tradition in Japan to reserve the party spots by placing blue coloured plastic mats under the Sakura trees. You can see people rushing to reserve the spots as before as 12 hours from the party time. Most commonly, junior colleagues at the work places are entrusted with the task of reserving the party spots.
The blue mats are treated as if a house floor. People do not step on mat in shoes.

An old saying goes in Japan, dumplings over flowers. It suggests that foods and drinks and not the flowers are most interested things in Hanami parties.

However, you might see a quiet and introspective affair at a few party spots but most of the Hanami parties are wild and fun-filled.

'The Land of Rising Sun' in Rainy Season!

And you thought Japan was all about history, science and technology, scrumptious dishes and picturesque sites, in fact Japan has a lot more to bestow the world. It’s the time of year, when Japan is in full glory. Spring is the best season to go on a sojourn to the land of rising sun. And, not long after spring comes monsoon.

If you love heavy droplets of sky-water, Japan is the place where you can cherish rainy days. Months of non-stop rains will soak you to the hilt. But, to avoid feeling down and blue, you need to have some precautions and alter your lifestyle in the rainy season. Especially to the foreign visitors, not used to heavy rainfall, get equipped with all the necessary monsoon kits as soon as you land in the Japan.

Keep yourself covered with designer umbrellas and scented with perfumes

Umbrellas are a must have during the rainy season in Japan. You can visit departmental stores in Takashimaya Time Square in Shinjuku to find wide range of beautiful umbrellas and rain-ware. Most umbrellas have two-step handle, which are made up of fine quality woods.

It’s quite common in rainy days to have pungent body odour. You must keep good perfumes together to avoid foul smell from your body. There are some of the best perfumes in the departmental stores of Japan.

Stay fit with ‘rainy season’ dishes

Rainy days might bring health hazards to the foreign tourists. You need to keep yourself fit and avoid being worn out. The loathsome humid weather might make you feel tired and exhausted. Having fermented foods in the rainy days can help you maintain energy level. Prefer having Miso, Soy Sauce and Natto, which is fermented soy bean. You can prefer Shio-Koji, fermented salty rice, over salt, as it can help you in easy digestion of food in the rainy season and contains Amino acids and Vitamins.

In rainy days, it’s common to have less appetite. Ochazuke can be a wonderful dish under such conditions. To prepare this dish, soak a chicken breast in Shio-Koji and preserve for half day in refrigerator. Prepare a pickled vegetable and boil chicken breast, in small pieces, for 5 minutes. Take a bowl and empty rice over other ingredients and then mix green tea on the top. Ochazuke might sound strange to you but it’s common for Japanese people to have this during the rainy season.

Indoor healing therapy sessions are common practice during rainy season

Remaining inside the house and practicing different therapies to improve health conditions is into the Japanese lifestyle in rainy season. If you are visiting Japan anytime near monsoon season, you can find some of best healing practices going on around almost every Japanese household.

Getting along with the japanese rainy season from Pretzel William