It’s that time of year again.

上野公園 

I like cherry blossoms, and spending quality time with friends, but I don’t like:

• the crowds
• sitting on cold asphalt for… hours.
• not wearing shoes on the cold blue tarp sitting on cold asphalt.
• the immense amounts of garbage.
• the creepy people that stalk me around Ueno park… telling me they just want to practice their English and “make friends” (pshhh yeah right).

In any case, I prefer to enjoy the trees on my own terms.

The best Hanami I’ve ever been to? It’s a tie between walking the Tetsugaku no Michi (哲学の道) and Yozakura at Kiyomizudera (清水寺夜桜).

哲学の道 清水寺夜桜

Well, and then there was that first-ever hanami I went to in Osaka-jo Koen… it was cold, the trees weren’t totally in bloom, we stole a tarp from some people that hadn’t arrived yet, and we met a homeless fellow who thought he was God. He said I was going to go to Buddhist heaven. At least he was nice and not that creepy!

大阪城公園

Call me a curmudgeon if you must, but maybe I’m just over traditional-style hanami.