花見！Flower viewing!

花 = "hana" or flower and 見 = "mi" or eye. While "hana" refers to flowers in general, this time of the year it more specifically means cherry blossoms (sakura) and/or plum blossoms (ume).

To celebrate the arrival of spring, the Japanese have little outdoor parties or picnics under these trees either during the day or in some special occasions, at night. These night parties are called 夜桜 ("yozakura") and include decorative and festive lanterns hung from the trees.

Hanami is of interest to just about every Japanese citizen, so much so that their weather service provides a 桜前線 ("sakurazensen" or "blossom report") to make best of your party planning. Below is such a report from the previous year.


My first sakura siting was in Nagoya in the castle's gardens. It was very overcast that day and towards the end of my tour, I saw some pink flowers in the distance. I was so excited that I interrupted my guide mid sentence to ask if they were cherry blossoms. She nodded and I ran ahead to see having completely lost interest in a statue she was explaining. I apologized for my rudeness but she found my elation amusing.


With as much anime, manga, TV and movies I've seen... the cherry blossom is omnipresent and I just couldn't help myself. Getting to see firsthand the delicate petals fall and speckle the ground like confetti was almost surreal.

Apparently, I wasn't the only person thrilled about this time of year. It was mid-March so some of the trees in Tokyo were just starting to bloom. While I was in Kamakura, there was one tree abloom near the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine and no less than a dozen photographers jostled for position to get pictures of the one branch they could get near.

I mentioned ume or plum blossoms above and I was fortunate to see one of those as well at Nagoya castle. They look just like sakura only white.

This entry is definitely photo heavy, but these beautiful flowers speak for themselves. I took more pictures of cherry trees than anything else on this trip and seeing the natives crowd around a blossoming tree on more than one occasion meant my fixation was the norm.

The boutique is open!

Finally! I've managed to catalog and photograph all my merchandise from Japan and have begun listing in on eBay for your buying pleasure! CHECK IT OUT!

There's not much now, but I will continue to list more clothing and stationery as the week goes on. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy what you find!

プロ野球! Professional Baseball!

It's that time of year again - baseball season is upon us and the Japanese.

Wait. Japan? Baseball?! I'm confused! I thought they only watched like sumo wrestling and kabuki plays and stuff?

Nope! The Japanese are very passionate about baseball and have their own 12-team league to follow called Nippon Professional Baseball, or the NPB which is equivalent to our MLB. In fact, North American has stolen quite a few players from them for our teams, such as Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox, Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs and my favorite player, Akinori Iwamura of the Pittsburgh Pirates just to name a few.

There are a few differences between when it comes to rules and regulations when comparing the MLB to the NPB but those aren't very interesting. The major differences are in going to the games themselves. I had the pleasure of attending 5 games in Japan last year and it completely ruined domestic games for me.

The biggest difference? That's easy - the fans. Extremely organized and loud (and sometimes paid), Japanese baseball fans raise the bar of fandom. It's not enough to haphazardly slap some sentiment on a piece of posterboard or paint your face. No, no, no. To be a true fan in Japan involves learning a different song for each batter, your team's fight song and being armed with flags, thunder sticks, banners, drums, horns, megaphones, etc while wearing your team's colors from head to toe...





...literally. I mentioned the word "paid" above. Yes, they have professional fans! Called 応援団 ("ouendan" or cheer squads), they have auditions and practices. They lead the other fans in songs, cheers and chants when while their team is at bat - which is quite the opposite here. Both teams are always equally represented by ouendan at ALL games, so there's never a lull in the noise, excitement or enthusiasm.


The next difference is the food. The question I was asked the most is: "Can you get sushi at baseball game?" The answer: "You bet... along with riceballs, tempura, edamame, teriyaki, noodles along with our classics of hotdogs, popcorn and of course, BEER."

Yes, these girls bring beer to you! Don't like Asahi? (What's wrong with you?!) Don't worry, a girl carrying Sapporo, Suntory, Kirin or Yebisu on her back will hike the stairs by your section soon enough.

With all this going on, it's easy to forget that there's a baseball being played! This is why I usually have moments of "ho-hum" at a major league game here.

There's a wonderfully fun tour run by JapanBall every year for the sole purpose of experiencing these games. I went last year and had a blast. I urge you to check it out even if you're not a baseball fan.

If flying halfway around the world to watch some baseball is something you can't swing, then you can watch it from the comfort of your living room, albeit at 4 am. Your cable or satellite provider might have a premium channel called "TV Japan" - which is basically NHK's feed minus the commercials. They usually show 3 or 4 games a week plus you get all of their sitcoms, dramas, children's programming and news.