I used to live near Stoner for years and never not...

2007-03-13T03:23:00.000-07:00

I used to live near Stoner for years and never noticed them. Cool.

Every year as a child, I would put myJapanese girl...

2007-03-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every year as a child, I would put my
Japanese girls’ day dolls up along with
the peach blossoms from our backyard.
However, I really didn’t learn about the
Japanese appreciation of nature until
later in life and after I went to Japan.

Every morning in Tokyo, I would walk
to the train station on my way to work
and see the change of the seasons
right in front of me. I tried to memorize
the intensity of colors in my mind
because L.A. is so dry compared to
other cities in the world.

There was a little park nearby with
a lake and a trail with cherry blossom
trees all around it. From far away,
the trees looked like a sea of white
and pink cotton candy.
While walking around the lake you
could see the groups of people on
their red cloths and eating bento
celebrating the bloom of the
cherry blossoms.

One of my friends told me that it was
popular to see the cherry blossoms at
night. Because they were white and pink,
and if the park had the lights on,
the lights would reflect off of
the blossoms.

Another favorite thing about these
seasonal occasions is that they all
had a special type of desert, candy or
food to eat during these times. cherry
blossoms and peach blossoms had
pink manju with edible leaves
wrapped around them. My favorite is
the Momiji Manju. The momiji is a
type of fall leaf and the manju was
in the shape of the leaf.

I love celebrations of nature. They
seem to bring people back to the
basics and they just seem so uncontrived.

Comments on Eric Nakamura: More Cherry Blossoms on Sawtelle

I used to live near Stoner for years and never not...

Every year as a child, I would put myJapanese girl...