Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

Once again, the name of our hostel is Sakura Hostel. Our sister hotel (Sakura Hotel) and sister companies (Sakura House and Sakuratei) also have "sakura" in their names.

Do you know what "sakura" is?
It's the national flower of Japan, the flower most loved by Japanese people for centuries.
In English, it's called cherry blossom.

Among the many species of cherry trees, Japan's most beloved one is Somei Yoshino (photo above). The color is almost white when you see a flower close. But when you are farthur from the tree, it looks light pink.

Spring is the season when you can see the flowers. The flower's life is very very short, only a week or two. If the flower lived longer, it wouldn't be loved this much. In the flower, Japanese people see the briefness and beauty of life,

Tokyo is expecting their early blooming this year due to the warm winter.
The flower forecast says the 18th of March is "the date" this year.

Hanami (flower viewing party) is another reason why Japanese love the flower this much. People go to parks, riverbanks, temples and shrines to have a party with foods and drinks under sakura trees. It never matters whether the real purpose is to view the flower or just to drink...

On Saturday, March 24th, we will have this hanami party with our guests. We will go to a riverbank close to the hostel. The sakura flowers are expected in full bloom around that date. Come and join us with your own food and drink!! >>>event calendar