Saturday, April 06, 2013

Hanami (Flower Viewing)

Cherry petals floating in the breeze

Cherry blossoms floated in the air last weekend as we enjoyed hanami, the Japanese tradition of celebrating flower blossoms.  Friends gathered at the Japanese American Historical Plaza to admire the lovely avenue of cherry trees in full bloom.  A very special thank you to MK for coordinating the event!
Senpai (senior students) and Sensei (in the center), dressed in beautiful kimono

We enjoyed a picnic, tea sweets and bowls of matcha as the petals continued to shower down.  The day was heavenly - sunny and mid 70s, quite a special thing for March in Portland! (Now we're back to the rain, but we need it.)

Below, a tea sweet made by Margie-sensei.  She named it hana yuki, flower snow.  The sweet was made with sweetened bean paste and a pickled cherry blossom on top.
When cherry blossoms
scatter...
no regrets
~Issa

We had the opportunity to share bowls of tea with others who came out to admire the flowers.

A great day!

9 comments:

relevanttealeaf said...

Your Cherry Blossom photographs are beautiful, Stephanie!

cha sen said...

What a lovely experience.

Siret said...

What a wonderful celebration - and your photos are georgeous! They tell the whole 'story' with beauty and emotions.
Thanks for this joy and spring greetings from Siret

Karen said...

How lovely! Thanks for sharing the beauty of your special day!

Antiques And Teacups said...

What a lovely occasion...and so glad the weather cooperated! It looks like a lovely time, and your photos tell the story well. Thanks so much for linking to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!
Ruth

Marilyn Miller said...

This is such a beautiful part of our beautiful city. I love seeing the cherry blossoms in bloom along the river. What a lovely gathering and sharing of tea. The sweet is beautiful too.

Teresa's New Life said...

It's all so beautiful- the scene, the kimono's, flowers everything

Angela McRae said...

I do hope to see a Cherry Blossom festival one day. I guess that's on my "gardener" Bucket List!

Marlena said...

It seems the very essence of tea to share it with passersby.