Ritual. One of the most attractive and original Japanese traditions or rituals is Hanami. In Japanese it means something like ‘looking at flowers’. The holiday is committed to cherry blossoming. This is the period during which a lot of Japanese people are going to the parks, in the mountains or in the countryside to look at blossoming sakura trees. Cherry blossoming is a very beautiful but passing period. In the south of Japan it starts in March and in the north it starts in May. Blossoming goes through the country like a whirlwind. Sakura blossoms very rapid – some trees blossom for three or five days, there are also species that blossom for four or five hours. Colour of the flowers is usually pink, but there are also trees with yellow or even greenish flowers. Days of blossoming are important for Japanese people. All the weather forecasts message about blossoming in different regions. Japanese people really like this time. They arrange family picnics and hang out with friends looking at the pink flowers going by the wind. Aesthetics and having rest are going along in this case. I find this time very romantic and poetic.