The magnificent cherry blossom in Japan.
The spacious park in Ueno, a district of Tokyo, is
mostly celebrated for its annual cherry blossom experience: being home to more
than 8.800 trees, including many Japanese cherry (highly esteemed), it offers a
world-love spectacular view when it’s blooming season in springtime.
At the end of March, beginning of April, beautiful
flowers appear on tree’s branches, creating a typical atmosphere.
In the park, local Japanese people, together with
tourists coming from every corner of the world, gather to hold parties and
celebrations for this unique natural beauty.
This extraordinary event occurs only once a year, and
lasts for only two weeks, at the end of which the flowers start to fall.
Given this biological out of ordinary features, cherry
blossom is mainly a symbolic event, dating back centuries, having started
around 700 – 1000 year After Christ.
The act of watching the cherry blossom is called
Hanami, while the flowers’ name in Japanese language is Sakura.
The flower, with its beautiful but short life, stands
for a time of renewal and reminds of the fleeting nature of existence.
Originally, Sakura signified the joyous beginning of
the harvest season and the announcement of the rice planting one.
As time went by, the philosophical meaning behind the
event has grown popularity and historical meaning.
It holds significance to Japanese nationalism and
militarism, as a fallen cherry blossom symbolizes a fallen Samurai who
sacrificed his life for the Emperor.
In fact, Japanese Samurai culture admired and deeply
took in the cherry blossom image, due to their short-lived lives, and used them
as a representation of blood drops.
In addiction to the Samurai’s devotion to Sakura,
during World War II the flowers acquired a deeper meaning, by being painted on
the side of Kamikaze warplanes.
Not to be forgotten is the Buddhist philosophy, rooted
also in the cherry blossom season, which perfectly describes human life.
All these spirituality that has been associated to the
flower throughout the past, is still of major importance in the present
culture.
Sakura it’s a metaphor for the ephemeral beauty of
living.
Life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but tragically
short. The blooming of cherry blossom trees is a visual reminder of how
precious and precarious life is.
Cherry blossom is celebrated in all Asian countries:
it means bravery, wisdom.
It’s a symbol of love and joy, and it’s believed to
promote spiritual awareness.
Cherry blossom, which bloom is an
enchantment of nature, pleases its spectators, making harmony and peace inside
them.
Not by chance, indeed, Buddhist
religion firstly developed here, in Japan, a country where nature is widely
celebrated and respected. Buddhist way of thinking is based on the key concept
of mankind belonging to nature, they both are melted together, unbreakable
bond.
In recent times however, many
tourists, although visiting a country flourishing with natural beauty, are not
left surprised by it, while at the end of the holiday they might rather make
memories of objects bought along Tokyo’s shops. So we are left thinking this
sweet
Therefore, the question comes
spontaneously. Where does this delightful sensation we experience when
contemplating nature come from?
Just imagine that our ancestors had
this feelings amplified compared to our ones, which are disappearing as the
evolution process goes on.
It’s the times in which natives of
America lived we must focus on.
They had an immense respect and
love for the land, because they were born from, it was seen as the place that
gave birth to them and since this they had to be extremely thankful.
They didn’t see natural resources
as an economic mean, as nature already had a powerful meaning to them: without
it, they could not survive. Indians found nutrition from it, as well as shelter.
Taking care of the land meant
taking care of themselves.
Land was seen as a Mother who
provided nutrition for her children.
By this speech, we reason on the
way evolution brought us to forget about our relationship with nature, that
once was a primary source of happiness.
As long as we become aware of this
fact, we should try and improve our daily life by reconnect with Mother Land.
If once provided us with so many benefits, why not now? We must seek that out
inside us.
We must aim at a better quality of
life, so let’s dive into every different activity and see if it will improve
our life or not!
And if this contact with nature
might be of any help, we cannot miss out on it.
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