Hanami - Ueno Park, Tokyo

One of japans many famous things (surely theres a better word than 'things'??) is the annual cherry blossom. every spring, all of the cherry blossom trees in japan...well, blossom (not got writing head on today obviously)...its a significant event over here, and the trees only blossom for around 1-2 weeks per year, and the time depends on where you are in the country. last weekend was tokyo's 'turn'. as i was flying early sunday morning, i took the opportunity to go down and have a look. ueno park is supposed to be where one of the best places to see it in tokyo is. i met up with my friend shanna, who was there for the weekend, in the park. its an amazing spectacle and the photos dont really do it justice. along the paths, the japanese set up tarps and settle don for a daysn drinking and eating and general tom-foolery...they get very very drunk! everyone says hi, and invites you to join them and chat and drink...not sure if they do this to all people, but certainly to westerners they do. we got invited and started chatting to a group and offered drink etc... now this place is packed full of people, i guess as its famous and doesnt last long, and as it was a saturday. was such a great festival atmosphere, and people (drunk) watching became as entertaining as the blossom. unfortunately, all of my pictures were lsot as my computer deleted them all or re-formatted the disc or something...which i was gutted at, but thankfully shanna had some nice ones. very very glad i had the opportunity to do this before i leave