Top Story: 31. March 2009
Cherry Blossoms
By Editor in Chief, Jaakko Saari
This spring has been surprisingly cold, thus the best bloom of sakura is further delayed.
Has the world mood changed since last year? I think so. The situation of world's economy is in everyone's lips in Japan. When watching news, one starts to feel that there is no time or space for spiritual thoughts, or poetic moment of wonder individual's relationship to nature. Sakura season seems just an excuse for shops to change their interior decoration again.
Everyone are snapping photos quickly with their brand new digicams like saying "oh, it's spring again", and move on. Of course, this is perfect time for camera makers to release new pocket cameras which look like jewellery.
A famous Japanese photographer once said that he thinks it's more important to watch the sakura than take picture of it. I find beauty in this thought. In the old times, people used to have time to think by themselves.
When I walk down the slope to the station near my house and stop under the sakura trees, I can feel dark thoughts vanishing from my mind. The other day, I had a conversation with a Japanese friend about scent of sakura. My friend said he doesn't feel any fragrance at all. I can swear I do. Maybe it's because I'm foreigner and my nose haven't spoiled by this scent every year.
He asked, how does sakura smell then. I think sakura smells like.. pink. Such a lightweight but seductive fragrance, that just takes you away.
But what really makes sakura beautiful is the fact that it lasts such a short time. It wouldn't be same if the sakura would be blooming through the spring, would it? Japanese sense of beauty is basically related to the fragileness of life in it's all forms. Sakura can be a metaphor of passage of life, and the way how all things disappear.
In spring, we can catch a glimpse of this reality of fleetingness of human life.
I wish that even in this commercial era people would have time to breathe in the fragrance of sakura and feel existence of nature.
It was hard to catch the branch that was rocking in the wind. Finally I caught it and sniffed! Yeah, the scent is very thin..
But I think that I'm more of a ume person! They impressed me at ôsaka castle.
so nice, a lot of secret,
By the way,In Japan,sakura is metaphor of death. If war happens and a soldier of Japan-army would be captured and then he choices suicide,some media will admire his choice;He died honorably.
In a war age of Showa era,a fleeting life of sakura was made use of making mentality as a Japanese soldiers and citizens.In the age,the government want japanese people to cultivate as a no fear of death persons,no fear against us and uk.They said,"Fight against US and UK,don't be afraid of death.You must fight bravely and die(you are merely porn of country)."
If war happens,the government and some media will use the image of sakura and samurai for fighting.
How about your country? What image will be used?