There is something magical about feeling and seeing the changing of the seasons, especially when each season displays a very different face of nature. And there is a special enjoyment in welcoming each season with traditional celebrations and a change in lifestyle. The long Japanese archipelago stretches over many lines of latitude, so of course people living in the far north, say in the Konsen Genya district of Hokkaido, relate to the seasons differently than people on the subtropical Yaeyama Islands. But customs and outlooks show that most Japanese people share a common sense of nature's changing moods.

The cherry blossoms come out in spring. Cherry trees grow in many parts of the country. Some are more than a thousand years old, some just old enough to flower for the first time. The blossoms are actually called hana, which means flowers — it seems there is no need to say which kind of flower, and this shows how much the Japanese love the cherry tree and regard its blossoms as their own. Throughout the archipelago, hearts beat a little faster when the flower buds start to swell. The waiting seems to go on forever. What a welcome sight when the first blossom unfolds! We have two phrases for this special moment: hatsu-hana (first flower), or hatsu-zakura (first cherry blossom). Soon, about one-fifth of the blossoms are open (nibu-zaki), then three-tenths (sanbu-zaki). When the blossoms are close to their peak, families, friends and colleagues get ready for picnics under the branches. Each brings something along to the feast. For century after century, lunch boxes for blossom-viewing parties have been called hana-mi bento, and the alcohol hana-mi zaké .
Women may go through their wardrobe carefully before deciding what to wear to the blossom-viewing party. Traditional Japanese clothes may be passé for these occasions, but the tradition of dressing with care and flair is still very much alive. The clothes have their own name for the occasion — hana-goromo. Going on a trip to see the cherry trees is called sakura-gari or hana-gari, words indicating the excitement of the day, since gari means "chasing after."

There are different ways to enjoy the blossoms, and a number of words with pleasing sounds call to mind the moments we admire the blossoms at different times of the day. The rising sun shimmers beautifully on the petals to give us asa-zakura (morning blossoms). The fading rays before nightfall create a different mood for yu-zakura (evening blossoms). And then there are the yo-zakura night blossoms, with yugen (quiet mystery). To bring out the beauty of the blossoms enveloped in the dark, we may light hana kagari bonfires near the trees and enjoy another magical moment of nature.