Editing Hanami (section)

==History==
{{quote box|align = left|quote=In these spring days,<br />when tranquil light encompasses<br />the four directions,<br />why do the blossoms scatter<br />with such uneasy hearts?|source=[[Ki no Tomonori]] (c. 850 – c. 904)<ref>''Pictures of the heart: the hyakunin isshu in word and image'', University of Hawaii Press, 1996, By Joshua S. Mostow, page 105</ref>}}
The practice of ''hanami'' is many centuries old. The custom is said to have started during the [[Nara period]] (710–794) when it was plum or ''ume'' blossoms that people admired in the beginning. The Japanese practice of ''hanami'' originated from the [[China|Chinese]] custom of enjoying poetry and wine underneath [[Prunus mume|plum blossom]] trees while viewing their flowers, that was replicated by Japanese elites. This is supported by the fact that ''hanami'' started in urban areas rather than rural areas, that Japanese people initially admired plum blossoms like the Chinese rather than [[cherry blossom]]s, and that classic Japanese poetry does not associate cherry blossoms with merriness.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hannes Palang |title=Seasonal Landscapes Volume 7 of Landscape Series |last2=Helen Sooväli |last3=Anu Printsmann |date=2007 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1402049903 |page=223}}</ref>

By the [[Heian period]] (794–1185), cherry blossoms or ''sakura'' came to attract more attention than the plum blossom and ''hanami'' was synonymous with ''sakura''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHf8lxLOYsUC&q=Hanami+nara&pg=PA12|page=12|title=Mizue Sawano: The Art of the Cherry Tree|author= Brooklyn Botanic Garden |publisher= Brooklyn Botanic Garden|year= 2006 |isbn= 1-889538-25-6}}</ref> From then on, in both [[waka (poetry)|waka]] and [[haiku]], "flowers" meant "sakura".<ref>Hoffman, Michael, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120325x1.html Sakura: Soul of Japan]", "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120325x2.html Petals 'perfect beyond belief' stir poetic]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 25 March 2012, p. 7.</ref><ref>Inoki, Linda, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120325x3.html Tracing the trees in a long national love affair]", ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 25 March 2012, p. 7.</ref> The historical text [[Nihon Kōki]], documented the first observation of the ''sakura'' bloom in the year 812, which has been observed and recorded over the next twelve centuries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cherry blossom phenology and temperature reconstructions at Kyoto |url=http://atmenv.envi.osakafu-u.ac.jp/aono/kyophenotemp4/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=生態気象学研究グループ |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Christidis |first1=Nikolaos |last2=Aono |first2=Yasuyuki |last3=Stott |first3=Peter A |date=2022-05-01 |title=Human influence increases the likelihood of extremely early cherry tree flowering in Kyoto |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=054051 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ac6bb4 |issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022ERL....17e4051C }}</ref>

''Hanami'' was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era [[novel]] ''[[The Tale of Genji]]''. Although a [[wisteria]] viewing party was also described, the terms "hanami" and "flower party" were subsequently used only in reference to cherry blossom viewing.

Sakura was originally used to divine that year's harvest as well as announce the rice-planting season. People believed in ''[[kami]]'' inside the trees and made offerings. Afterwards, they partook of the offering with [[sake]].

[[Emperor Saga]] of the Heian period adopted this practice, and held flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the [[Imperial Court in Kyoto]]. [[Poetry|Poems]] would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of ''Hanami'' in Japan.

{{Quote box
 |quote = If there were no cherry blossoms in this world<br />How much more tranquil our hearts would be in spring.
 |source = [[Ariwara no Narihira]] (825–880)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mint.go.jp/eng/sakura/viewing.html | title=''Cherry Blossom Viewing'' | publisher=Japan Mint | access-date=August 14, 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523004501/http://www.mint.go.jp/eng/sakura/viewing.html | archive-date=May 23, 2007 }}</ref>
}}
The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to [[Samurai]] society and, by the [[Edo period]], to the common people as well. [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]] planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

[[File:Shidare-zakura シダレザクラ2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Prunus itosakura|'Shidare-zakura']] is the first recorded cultivar in Japan.]]
Since a book written in the Heian period mentions {{nihongo|"[[:ja:シダレザクラ|weeping cherry]]"|しだり櫻|shidarizakura}}, one of the cultivars with pendulous branches, it is considered that [[Prunus itosakura|''Prunus itosakura'' 'Pendula' (Sidare-zakura)]] is the oldest cultivar in Japan. In the [[Kamakura period]], when the population increased in the southern [[Kanto region]], Oshima cherry, which originated in [[Izu Oshima]] Island, was brought to [[Honshu]] and cultivated there, and then brought to capital, [[Kyoto]]. In the [[Muromachi period]], the [[Prunus serrulata|Sato-zakura Group]] which was born from complex interspecific hybrids based on [[Oshima cherry]], began to appear.<ref name ="katsuki2015">Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.86-95 p.106 pp.166-168 [[Iwanami Shoten]]. {{ISBN|978-4004315346}}</ref>

[[File:Hokuto Yamanashi Yamatakajindaizakura 1.JPG|thumb|The ''[[:ja:神代桜|Jindai-zakura]]'', a tree which is about 2,000 years old]]
[[Prunus itosakura|''Prunus itosakura'' (syn. ''Prunus subhirtella'', Edo higan)]], a wild species, grows slowly, but has the longest life span among cherry trees and is easy to grow into large trees. For this reason, there are many large and long-lived trees of this species in Japan, and their cherry trees are often regarded as sacred and have become a landmark that symbolizes [[Shinto shrines]], Buddhist temples and local areas. Famous examples include the ''[[:ja:神代桜|Jindai-zakura]]'' (~2,000 years old), ''[[:ja:淡墨桜|Usuzumi-zakura]]'' (~1,500 years old), and ''[[:ja:醍醐桜|Daigo-zakura]]'' (~1,000 years old).<ref name ="katsuki2015178">Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.178-182. [[Iwanami Shoten]]. {{ISBN|978-4004315346}}</ref>

[[File:2014-05-10 12 34 11 Flowering Cherry along New Jersey Route 29 in Hopewell Township, New Jersey.JPG|thumb|[[Prunus 'Kanzan'|'Kanzan']] is a [[double-flowered]] cultivar developed in the Edo period. It has 20 to 50 petals in a flower.<ref>Toshio Katsuki (2015). ''Sakura'' p.93 pp.103-104. [[Iwanami Shoten]]. {{ISBN|978-4004315346}}</ref>]]
In the Edo period, various [[double-flowered]] cultivars were produced and planted on the banks of rivers, on Buddhist temples, in Shinto shrines and in [[daimyo]] gardens in urban areas such as [[Edo]], and the common people living in urban areas could enjoy them. Books from that period recorded more than 200 varieties of cherry blossoms and mentioned many varieties of cherry blossoms which are currently known, such as [[Prunus 'Kanzan'|'Kanzan']]. However, the situation was limited to urban areas, and the main objects of hanami across the country were wild species such as [[:ja:ヤマザクラ|''Prunus jamasakura'' (Yamazakura)]] and Oshima cherry, which were widely distributed in the country.<ref name ="katsuki2015"/>

[[File:Yoshino Sakura Tidal Basin DC.jpg|thumb|left|[[Prunus × yedoensis|Yoshino cherry ('Somei-yoshino')]] has rapidly spread throughout Japan since the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji period]].]]
Since the [[Meiji period]] when Japan was modernized, [[Yoshino cherry]] has spread throughout Japan, and the object of hanami for Japanese people has changed to Yoshino cherry.<ref name ="katsuki20152160">Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.2-7 pp.156-160 [[Iwanami Shoten]]. {{ISBN|978-4004315346}}</ref> On the other hand, various cultivars other than Yoshino cherry were cut down one after another due to the rapid modernization of cities, such as reclamation of waterways and demolition of [[daimyo]] gardens. The gardener Takagi Magoemon and the village mayor of Kohoku Village Shimizu Kengo worried about this situation and saved them from the danger of extinction by making a row of cherry trees composed of various cultivars on the [[Arakawa River (Kantō)|Arakawa River]] bank. In Kyoto, Sano Toemon XIV, a gardener, collected various cultivars and propagated them. After World War II, these cultivars were inherited by the [[National Institute of Genetics]], [[Tama Forest Science Garden]] and the Flower Association of Japan, and from the 1960s onwards various cultivars were again used for hanami.<ref name ="katsuki20152115">Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.115-119 [[Iwanami Shoten]]. {{ISBN|978-4004315346}}</ref>
[[File:Geishas of Mukōjima.jpg|thumb|Geishas of Sumida serving tea to the hanami-goers, 1954]]

The teasing proverb {{Nihongo|''dumplings rather than flowers''|[[wikt:花より団子|花より団子]]|hana yori dango}} hints at the real priorities for most cherry blossom viewers, meaning that people are more interested in the food and drinks accompanying a hanami party than actually viewing the flowers themselves.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGb4zNqYj10C&q=%22hana+yori+dango%22&pg=PA175 |page=175|title=Japanese Proverbs and Sayings |first= Daniel Crump |last=Buchanan |publisher= University of Oklahoma Pres|year= 1973 |isbn= 0-8061-1082-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qQPWtyEP23kC&q=%22HANA+YORI+DANGO%22&pg=PA41 |page=41|title=Tigers, Devils, and Fools: A Guide to Japanese Proverbs |first= Edward |last=Trimnell |publisher= Beechmont Crest Publishing|year= 2004 |isbn= 0-9748330-2-9}}</ref>

''Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!'' is a popular saying about ''hanami'', after the opening sentence of the 1925 short story "Under the Cherry Trees" by [[Motojirō Kajii]].
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{{gallery
|width=160 | height=170
|align=center
|File:Hana No En.jpg|[[Ukiyo-e]] painting from ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'', chapter 20 ''Hana no En, "Under the Cherry Blossoms"'', by artist [[Kunisada]] (1852)
|File:Cherry Blossom Viewing Picnic, ca. 1624-1644, 39.87.jpg|''Cherry Blossom Viewing Picnic'', c. 1624–1644. [[Edo period]], Kan'ei Era. Ink, color and gold leaf on paper, [[Brooklyn Museum]]
|File:Yasui tenjinyama hanami.jpg|Hanami in [[Osaka]]. People enjoy viewing blossoms with dance, music, food and [[sake]]. The black box on the right is a multi-tiered [[bento]] box. [[Hiroshige]] (1834).|File:Chiyoda Ooku Hanami.jpg|Ladies in the Edo palace enjoying cherry blossoms, [[Toyohara Chikanobu]] (1894)
|File:Rukujogosho hanami.jpg|Evening Banquet for Cherry-blossom Viewing at the Rokujô Palace (Rokujô gosho hanami no yûen), by [[Kunisada]] (1855)
|File:Yoshitsune with benkei.jpg|Woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, series "Courageous Warriors" ("Yoshitoshi musha burui"), Kurō Hangan Minamoto Yoshitsune and Musashibō Benkei under a cherry tree
}}