I like that the Japanese word for Easter is 'fukkatsusai' 復活祭, literally "revival festival". It really fits with spring, a time when the world is coming back to life. Coming back into bloom.
And, boy! Does Japan bloom! At the tail end of winter, the plum blossoms burst white followed by the deep magenta of the peach trees. The coup de grace, of course, are the cherry blossoms. Iconic, the cherry trees start to bud at the onset of spring weather, explode into a light pink for about a week, then begin to let their petals drift down to the earth like snow. It's said that the Japanese fascination with cherry blossoms stems from their ephemeral nature mirroring the Buddhist theme of impermanence or yadda yadda yadda, whatever, they're beautiful. I don't care who you are, they will move you.
Two weeks ago, I did 'hanami' for the first time. In short, it amounts to you gathering up your best mates, sitting under the cherry trees, and getting sloshed at hours when, really, no one should be drinking. We went to Gongendo Park (which I think I've mentioned before), Satte's #1 tourist attraction. The park is situated at a bend in the Gongendo River. In times long past, the people of Satte built a levy to protect themselves from the often overflowing river. On the top of the levy they planted numerous cherry trees for stability and unintentionally created the main source of revenue for the city their tiny hamlet would become. The park is distinctive for its juxtaposition of the pink cherry blossoms above the fields of yellow rape seed along the riverbank. It's a beauty to behold, and you can see it in the video below. You'll also see me and my friends acting like we'd recently been lobotomized.
On the following Sunday, I agreed to go to an Easter parade put on by Mr. Oogushi's church. I've probably never mentioned this before, but Mr. Oogushi and his family are devoutly Christian. They go to church every Sunday, attend Christian retreats in Canada, the works.
As the parade approached me, marching down the streets of Kasukabe, I was suddenly swept up in it. Urged along down an alley toward the church. As we turned the final corner, I was surprised to see the street lined with food stands and games. It looked just like a Japanese festival! They even had goldfish scooping, which I got to try (another first for me). This really was a 'revival festival'! After having the best pizza I'd had since coming to Japan, I got to speak with some of the foreigners affiliated with the church. A guy from Philly, a guy from California. In the middle of the conversation, I realized something amazing for me: these people weren't trying to convert me!
I could really dig this Japanese-style Christianity. So far, it seemed to me to be a religion based upon the virtues of good food and catching goldfish with a tiny, paper scooper.
A little while later, we got to the main event: a performance of the resurrection story. Not an unusual Easter festivity. But it was in Japanese, and in that respect, it was certainly an unusual experience for me. The footage is below.
Last weekend, I did hanami again with a group of people I'd never met from SIEN. Don't ask me what that stands for. I can't tell you. But I can tell you that they were all very nice Japanese people who wanted to practice English and share a few good drinks.
The event was at Shinjuku-gyoen, right down the street from KCP, the place where I did my study abroad program. Shinjuku-gyoen is a giant park in the middle of Tokyo, tiny in comparison to Central Park, but sizable none the less. To get straight to the point, it was gorgeous. At one point I came upon a tree where the petals were just raining down, spinning in the wind. In Japanese, they call this 'hanafubuki' (lit. 'a snow storm of petals'). I was awed. It's also in the video below, so without further ado, enjoy! Watch in HD to feel LIKE YOU'RE REALLY THERE.
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