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Spring

by J. C. Greenway
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The Teas That Bind
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A short extract of a post that features in my book about the Great East Japan Earthquake, The Teas That Bind:

Hanami season has arrived, stirring feelings of joy at the onset of spring and the start of a new financial and academic year, tempered with melancholy at the knowledge that, as with the sakura, all beauty is mortal. A finality which doesn’t need to be underscored too heavily at a time when there are still many thousands dead and missing in the North, most recently those killed by last night’s large aftershock.

Last week Tokyo’s government asked for restraint at this time of national mourning, while an association of Tohoku sake brewers countered by trying to encourage Tokyo’s drinkers to indulge, enjoy life and by doing so, support the remains of their industry. It is understandable that people feel torn. There is perhaps a reluctance to hold the raucous parties for which the season is renowned while their compatriots are struggling with everyday living. Set against that, is of course, the near-impossible-to-resist joy that hanami season brings.

 

To read more of this post, please download a copy of The Teas That Bind, the story of my experiences in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, available now from Amazon and Lulu.


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3 comments

Takeshi 10 April 2011 - 1:09 am

Very good shots!
I’m glad you enjoyed them.

I’ll start to sell Tohoku’s sake at my place from Monday include 10% donation.

Reply
sam, just sam, yeah? 10 April 2011 - 3:45 pm

“The last of the cherry blosson. On the tree, it turns ever more perfect. And when it’s perfect, it falls. And then of course once it hits the ground it gets all mushed up. So it’s only absolutely perfect when it’s falling through the air, this way and that, for the briefest time. . . I think that only we Japanese understand that, don’t you?” – David Mitchell, Ghostwritten

Had to share that quote, it perfectly describes why I’m so jealous of everyone enjoying hanami.

Reply
Joanne Greenway 13 April 2011 - 10:38 pm

Thanks fellas, I’m glad you enjoyed them.

Sam, that’s a great quote from one of my favourite books, so thank you! I hope I am beginning to understand the perfection of the falling sakura… although maybe I had better stay another year just to be sure.

More hanami pictures to follow soon!

Reply

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