Cherry Blossom

Another indulgent treat of spring, the flowering Cherry tree. Nothing quite compares to the flamboyant cloud like canopies. Dancing in the wind they almost perform to the observer.  As taken as we are by the Cherry blossom, nowhere is quite as taken with the annual event than in Japan. Where Sakura, the most commonly known species, is a symbol of the transience of life. During the blossoming many families will gather to take part in the centuries old practise of "Hanami”, drinking under a blooming sakura. It is a part of Japanese culture influenced heavily by Buddhist beliefs. With the tree said to encapsulate the concept of Mono no aware, ’a sensitivity to ephemera’. The quietly elated, bittersweet awareness of having been witness to the wonders of life, knowing that it cannot last. That with life brings death.