Japanese Flower Viewing March 17

Office of Student Activities

The Japanese Student Association invites students to swing by the Japanese Flower Viewing table on Thursday, March 17, between 1-2 p.m. at the Union Mall. Attendees can try the Guess the Drink Challenge and grab a Japanese snack at the Hanami event. Usually, people in Japan play a lot of games while flower viewing, one of which is the Guess the Sake Challenge, called "kikisake." People taste some types of sake and guess each brand in kikisake. We are going to have soda instead so that you can experience this pseudo-game. We are also preparing some unique Japanese snacks.

Flower viewing is called "Hanami (花見)" in Japan. This is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers. Flowers can be anything, but they generally refer to those of the cherry blossom. It happens from the end of March to early May, which is the season when cherry trees are in full bloom. Looking back at the history of Hanami, it can be traced back to the Heian period in the seventh century. This custom started among the nobles and gradually moved to be enjoyed by the common people in Japan. Nowadays, cherry blossoms are the national flower of Japan, and Hanami has become one of the biggest yearly events. Hanami mostly consists of having a picnic or outdoor party beneath the trees. In addition to Hanami during the daytime, people also do Hanami at night thanks to the improvements of lightning around public parks. The cherry blossoms scattering in the wind are incredibly beautiful while those illuminated by the moonlight at night are also fantastic. There are many tourists' spots to view cherry blossoms all over Japan; some of the tourists visit there only for Hanami. You can find more information about Hanami available on Wikipedia. There seem to be cherry trees on our campus, so hopefully they will bloom on the date of this event.

This event is supported by the Student Activities Fee as a funded event by the Associated Student Government and is free to all currently enrolled University of Arkansas students. For more information, please join JSA GroupMe or follow JSA Instagram. For questions about the event or for accommodations due to disability, you can directly contact Kenshi Kawade, kkawade@uark.edu or call 479-575-5255.