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At a poetic level, the insane amount of cultural importance theoretically granted to observing cherry blossoms in Japanese culture, is awe-inspiring: millions o

by toyg 5y ago

At a poetic level, the insane amount of cultural importance theoretically granted to observing cherry blossoms in Japanese culture, is awe-inspiring: millions of people grasping the significance of fleeting time, of the cycle of seasons, of celebrating nature, and ultimately, of the inevitability of death. That's an entire course of philosophical studies crammed into a couple of weeks, and repeated every year. In practice, obviously, it's often just an excuse to get smashed; but I'd argue that it's a much more interesting excuse than some saint you don't know anything about or some superstition nobody remembers. It would be nice to somehow transplant a bit of hanami culture to the West.

freetime2 5y ago
St. Patrick’s Day was originally a pagan holiday celebrating the vernal equinox, before being co-opted by the Catholic church. And I feel like it (the US version of St Patrick’s Day at least) still is fundamentally just a celebration of Spring - people feeling good now that Winter has passed and can’t help but celebrate. People have layered on symbolism, and I agree that the Japanese interpretation is far more interesting than the US version. But ultimately I find any sort of symbolism to be rather dull compared to that feeling you get when Spring finally arrives. To me it really is primarily just about feeling good, and enjoying that feeling with family and friends.