花見

Cherry Blossom Viewing

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（文　澤　　功）

　この辺の花見は、上野公園か谷中の墓地です。上野公園は、会社関係の人が多いので、新入社員が徹夜で場所とりをしているなどという記事が新聞を賑わします。
　谷中の墓地は、地元の人が多く、場所をヒモでかこんで「○○町会、何時から花見」とぶらさげておくだけです。
花見の幹事の一番の悩みは、花見の日をいつにするかと言うことです。決めた日に、まだ花が二分咲きだったり、ほとんど花が散ってしまった年もありました。
満開の花の下で、宴会の出来た年は「ヤッター」と叫んでしまいます。

　　Cherry Blossom Viewing

We usually go to see the cherry blossoms at Ueno Park or Yanaka Graveyard Park which are located in Tokyo. Generally speaking, mainly it is salaried workers who belong to companies that go to Ueno Park and it's mainly our neighbors who go to Yanaka Graveyard Park.
Parks both at Ueno and at Yanaka Graveyard are crowded with many people and many circcles during the cherry blossom viewing time. So it is difficult to secure a place for the party. At Ueno Park, in order to secure a place for the party we often see newly employed men belonging to companies. It is reported in several newspapers that ometimes they even stay up all night to secure their spot.

At Yanaka Graveyard Park we often enclose our area with a piece of string with a placard that mentions the time and date of the scheduled party.
It is a tough job for a circle leader to secure a spot for cherry blossom viewing.
I've experienced times when we planned our cherry blossom party too early and the cherry blossoms were not out when the party was scheduled. Other times the cherry blossoms had already fallen when we had our party. When the cherries are in full bloom, the party is a great success and we often spontaneously shout "hurray".