Christians, of course, share this view though that is only one aspect of heaven. In fact, the Buddhist view of “heaven”, or nirvana, is the state of mind of being totally without suffering. The first idea is about suffering, a concept that is basically at the center of Buddhism. So what is it about hanami that is so compelling that it brings productivity in the world’s third largest economy to a near standstill? There have been many theories on this topic (including one which suggests that the DNA of Japanese people has changed to make them more attentive to it, but I’ll skip that one), but I chose a couple of ideas that make sense to me, both based on Buddhism, which has existed in Japan for over a thousand years and is well known to have a strong influence on Japanese culture as a whole. I imagine hanami in Japan has the same effect on the work week of Sweet Sixteen / Final Four week in America I’m sure if companies could bring cherry trees into the office much like American companies bring in the cable television, they would certainly do so. In the parks, people gather in the evenings and often all day on the weekends, to sit underneath the cherry blossoms enjoying one another’s company and consuming a meal (and often copious amounts of alcohol) and literally breathing in the beauty of Spring. And I too, have found my gaze lingering too long on a lovely cherry tree before suddenly remembering that I’m operating a moving vehicle. I am amazed at the sight of a salaryman rushing off to his job suddenly coming to a dead stop on the sidewalk, gazing up at the beautiful blossoms of the cherry tree, mesmerized. I’m also talking about the attitudes of the people. I’m not just talking about the obvious transformation of thousands of previously barren trees suddenly bursting with fluffy clouds of cherry blossoms.
When Spring arrives in Tokyo, the entire city is transformed.
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