Vernal Equinox 春分

Shunbun (春分): March 20—

Sakura 桜

I once read that the custom of cherry blossom-viewing—sometimes referred to as the “cult of the cherry blossom”– has its roots in the Chinese Qingming Festival. This year ocurring on April 5, Qingming is a day when people in China travel back to their hometowns to sweep the tombs of their ancestors ~~~and celebrate the return of spring.

Long ago, it was customary on this day to take to the hills 踏青—getting out in nature, to hike and picnic with family and friends. People also probably engaged in picking mountain herbs 山菜摘み.

It was this idea, of “stepping on blue-green” （踏青→ getting out and walking in nature), along with the Japanese idea of the gods of the fields returning from their long slumber around this time of year that are most deeply connected to Japanese sensibilities surrounding cherry blossom viewing.

Something interesting that I realized in Japan was while a person goes “cherry blossom viewing” 花見 in spring, they go “maple leaf hunting” 紅葉狩り in Fall. Like picking mountain herbs or foraging for mushrooms, beautiful maple leaves were gathered and brought home. For tempura? For attaching to letters to loved ones? Or for pressing in books or albums?

This is what I am thinking about this spring: this deep impulse to get out in nature and not just look with my eyes—but to engage deep listening. Can I hear the insects singing and flowers blossoming? To smell and taste… and to touch.

Now, for me, spring is about looking at all the flowers and leaves I pressed last fall, to try—and try again— to pickle vegetables…. to arrange foraged flowers and to get out and go on a picnic!

For more:

Winifred Bird’s Eating Wild Japan: Tracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes

My essay Cauldron Bubble at Dublin Review of Books

My list of Walk on the Wild Side Books