Watashi no Saisho no Hanami (My First Hanami)

Hanami (花見, Hana + mi, literally means "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻, sakura?), or ume blossoms (梅, ume?). From late March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan.

Precisely yes, this was my first Hanami. All of my previous trips for Japan were scheduled on summer, that is why I have seen countless Hanabis, but not even a single Hanami. On the Hanami festival, almost if not all of my Japanese colleagues were all present.

Here are some of the pix ...

A peek on my boss's house ... Inoue-san got so tired and slept ...

The whole gang on our way to my boss's house ...

Yoshizu-san, my boss, with his daughter, Momoka-chan ...

Not all Hanabis are as wild as this ...

"Peace to you guys out there ... "

"Peace to you too ..."

(From left, Kudo-san, Hasegawa-san, Okabe-san, and me)

The head-turn pose demonstration ...

Yoshizu-san, my boss, with lovely his wife and their cute little daughter ...

From left is Akune-san, me, and Peter, on his AOTS training.

Okabe-san, test-driving Momoka-chan's BMW ...

now, Hasegawa-san is doing a second test-drive ...

.. and the third and final test-drive by Satou-san.

Yoshizu-san and Inoue-san ...

From left, Inoue-san, Satou-san, Kudo-san, and Hasegawa-san...

Thanks guys for that wonderful Hanami.

I wish I could spend another one with you again, someday.