Cherry Blossom Time (again)

It's cherry blossom time again - another sign of the relentless passing of the years in Japan. Cherry blossoms fill me with equal amounts of pleasure and sadness. Pleasure at the fantastic beauty of it all and sadness at how fleeting the appearance of the blossom is. A metaphor for life itself for many Japanese people (and the long term expat community).

I'm glad I have managed to sample a brief moment of the cherry blossom mania that grips Japan each year. Yesterday Yuki, Clara and I went to Koganei Park, a short journey from our house, to have our own little hanami (Japanese for cherry blossom viewing party). We bought some snacks and a couple of beers and lazed around in the park for an hour or so along with thousands of other people. Yuki told me that there are about 1,700 cherry in Koganei Park so it is obviously a good place to visit around cherry blossom time. There were various stalls selling food and games for the masses. A local pizza company even had the ingenuity to walk among the crowds taking orders - good idea but how on earth they would manage to deliver the correct pizzas to the right group has been vexing me for the past day. Must have been chaotic.After sitting on our mat, we took a stroll and then Clara and I played tennis for a bit. Sora (our little mutt) was very popular and got a lot of attention.

After we returned home, we had dinner together and then I went into Shibuya to meet an old colleague and some former students from the Japan Bank of International Development (JBIC). We had a good time chatting and had a few beers at TGI Fridays. After that we went to karaoke for an hour and then there was a mad rush to the station to catch the train home.  With work and family responsibilities, I rarely venture into town and am a bit of a hermit these days. Quite a change from my life back in Britain, and not a positive change in my opinion. I really should make an effort to socialise more......

Today there was the local Kumegawa cherry blossom carnival. We are really lucky that our balcony overlooks the street where the mini Rio-esque style parade takes place. Great to just stand there and watch the scantily clad ladies jiggle by. 

And now work beckons once more. Last week was really busy and I have a pile of work waiting on my desk for me to get stuck in to. 

Hope all is well with the readers, if indeed there are readers. Will post another blog soon.