While sakura are definitely a beautiful sight, their subtle flavor can also be enjoyed in a cocktail. ANA Intercontinental Tokyo (1-12-33 Akasaka, Minato-ku; 03-3505-1111; www.anaintercontinental-tokyo.jp) in Akasaka is among the best places in the capital to find such a creation. The champagne bar on ...
Forecasters watching trees at the capital's central Yasukuni Shrine said Tuesday the city's first blossoms had appeared there, marking the beginning of two weeks in which Tokyo's parks, temple grounds, schools and streets will explode in pinks and whites.
Did Japan’s hallowed cherry trees actually originate South Korea? “The beloved someiyoshino variety of cherry trees isn’t really from Japan, but actually from South Korea’s Jeju Island. Even though Japanese scholars recognize this, Japan is trying to make the world believe these cherry trees ...
The transition from winter to summer is just beginning, and that means something magical is about to arrive: cherry-blossom season. As winter loosens its grip, delicate pastel petals push their way out of gnarled sakura-tree branches — an early indicator of the warmth that ...
The Japan Tourism Agency opened a cherry blossom exhibition in Shanghai on Saturday in a bid to draw more Chinese visitors during the upcoming hanami season. The two-day event is the largest of its kind since bilateral ties plunged to their lowest level in ...
It’s cold and the trees are still bare, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the cherry blossoms before they bloom. Bourbon is one of the first confectioners to join the wave of cherry-blossom-flavored goodies with the release of these bite-sized bits of white ...
This year’s sakura (cherry blossoms) took many people by surprise — especially in the Kanto region. Unusually warm weather in March hastened the peak of the blossoms by a couple of weeks, and by early April, when all the parties by and under the ...
The sakura season is here! The question is, does this refer to the horsemeat season or the cherry blossom season? It’s hard to tell when the Japanese use the word “sakura” to describe horse meat, which is pink. Sakura nabe is not nabe made ...
With an ephemeral canopy of pink sweeping Japan, the JT’s food writers know the perfect spots to dine with an eyeful of sakura (cherry blossom) — or just the right sake to sip as you picnic under the petals. Innsyoutei, Tokyo When it comes ...
If the Grinch — that well-known wet blanket of holiday mirth — were both a betting man and Japanese, it wouldn’t be Christmas he was after. Nor New Year’s, nor the Emperor’s birthday, nor Golden Week, nor National Toilet Day (Nov. 10. Mark it ...
It’s that time of year when the Japanese turn their thoughts to what I call the 3-S’s: sakura (桜, cherry blossoms), sakamori (酒盛り, drinking parties) and shuran (酒乱, getting raucously drunk). Fifty weeks out of the year we’re our dull, proper, work-addicted selves, but ...
The pink mist descends and sakura fever sets in. Resistance is futile: Get out there under the petals, gaze, imbibe, revel and cavort. And then, as the evening chill sets in — as it inevitably does at this time of year — adjourn for ...
