7 ms·
The business around them is crazy around here. Where as in some other country you would just pack a picnic basket and go to spend the evening under the trees, h
by asutekku 8y ago
The business around them is crazy around here. Where as in some other country you would just pack a picnic basket and go to spend the evening under the trees, here they order craploads of sakura themed bento, drink sakura themed sake and beer and even be absent from the work to get wasted under the cherry blossoms.
And that’s only the hanami itself. The stores are filled with sakura themed stuff that is few yens cheaper than their normal counterpart and they sell like crazy.
It really is an interesting aspect of the culture.
- glandium 8y agoSakura themed stuff is just one example of the more global season themed stuff you'll find going on all year round. Sakura, peach, pear, sweet potato, mandarin orange, wasabi, etc. etc. 期間限定 (time limited) looks like the favorite keyword of marketeers, and it's most of the time associated with seasons.
- themodelplumber 8y agoAnd also, all of that stuff is tasty and worth celebrating. Japanese peaches and pears are legitimately special. Sweet potato from the yakiiiiimo truck is a treasured memory _and_ also delicious. Etc.
- tmm84 8y agoI love yakiimo. The pears are hit and miss in the taste department. However, being a southern boy I still love me some yellow Georgia peaches.
- tokyodude 8y agonot sure why Japan is being singled out here. Nearly every culture has celebrations that are then commercialized. Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, July 4th (USA), Spring Day, Flower Day, Day of the Dead, St Patrick's Day, etc etc etc.
- scruple 8y agoAgreed. All of this is, I think, in some form, celebrating agricultural cycles, yes? Those are celebrated and turned in to holidays for good reason. I don't see why it's more interesting that it happens in country A vs. country B. But, that's just the world we live in.
- bsder 8y agoSure, but closest equivalent in the US would be the "leaf peepers" looking at the changing leaves in the Northeast US at the beginning of Autumn.
- ekianjo 8y ago> not sure why Japan is being singled out here. Nearly every culture has celebrations that are then commercialized. Japan takes it to another level though. In Europe I had never seen so much products customization happening across multiple categories at the same time.
- tokyodude 8y agoDo they? In the USA there's Christmas merchandise in every store for 2 months. People buy trees, cars, tree decorations, candles, wreaths, house lights, cakes, egg nog, etc. etc. For Halloween custom stores open all over the place for 1-2 months, candy companies come out with all kinds of special candies, pumpkin patches show up all over town, and on and on. Europe has nothing like that?
- ekianjo 8y ago> It really is an interesting aspect of the culture. It's not just for Sakura (cherry blossoms), Japan has tons of events links to seasons or other celebrations where they release specific packaging/versions of many commodity items. But it's true that hanami (going to see cherry blossoms) is one of the most popular traditions around.