Today we went to a park not far from our house for 花見 (“Cherry Blossom Viewing”).
Cherry Blossom Viewing has been a Japanese tradition for centuries. The Cherry Blossom (or 桜 (“Sakura”) as it’s known in Japanese) is as Japanese as Apple Pie is American.
Every Spring, when the Sakura bloom, Japanese people have picnics under the Sakura trees (as I mentioned in the “Sakura” post below).
We had sandwiches, takoyaki, fried squid, and beer (of course, the kids had juice) under the trees. They were very beautiful. I took a few pictures and attached some to this post.
Before we got to the park, we passed a gas station and noticed a Buddist priest pumping gas into his car.
This caught my attention, not only because you don’t often see Buddist priests at gas stations, but also because “Self-serve” gas stations are new to Tokyo. They all used to be “full-serve”…with four or five attendants pumping your gas, checking your oil and tires, and washing your wind shield. Then helping direct you back into traffic.
So I took this picture:
At the Sakura festival, there was a stage that had some people doing a tradional Japanese festival dance. I took a short video of it and uploaded it to YouTube.
It’s the first time I’ve ever uploaded a video to YouTube.
Are you able to watch the video? Let me know.
Here are some of the photos I took:
Tokyo Five 
>Yeah, the new digs are good.
Thanks.
>I was especially down with the Yokohama pics…it was stuff that I remember.
Feel free to comment under that section, too.
>Do you guys have elections coming up some time soon?
The current Japanese Prime Minister took office only about six months ago. So, no. Not soon.
Honestly, though, politics don’t interest me.
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Yeah, the new digs are good. I was especially down with the Yokohama pics…it was stuff that I remember.
Do you guys have elections coming up some time soon?
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MB…
You’ve finally commented!
Thanks.
>Ooh! I LOVE the new layout on the site! And I love the youtube video!
Thank you.
>Was that just a show on the street??
No. It was in the park for the Sakura festival.
>You really should upload more of those
Yes, I guess I should.
After I uploaded the video to YouTube, my site got alot more visitors.
I’ve got another video that I just uploaded to YouTube today.
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Ooh! I LOVE the new layout on the site! And I love the youtube video! Was that just a show on the street?? You really should upload more of those. 🙂
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Linda…
>And the video worked perfectly–liked it a lot.
OK. Good. Maybe I’ll add more in the future.
>Looks like you had a good time with your family, picnicking under the trees.
Yes, we had a very nice time.
>Wonder how it goes on the Costa Rica trip
Hopefully we’ll see some pictures when they return!
And what about the rest of the family? Where’re their comments?
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I love those mouse-over wordpress snapshots. And the video worked perfectly–liked it a lot. The dance looks a little like Tai Chi moves–sort of martial arts-y with some Qi Gong thrown in. Gorgeous cherry blossoms everywhere. Looks like you had a good time with your family, picnicking under the trees. Love the shot of the gas station priest. Wonder how it goes on the Costa Rica trip–wish I were there with them!
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Stephen…
Thanks for visiting my site.
>Nice photos!
Thank you.
>Thanks for dropping me a line and inviting me to check out your blog.
I bookmarked yours.
>The Navy has yet to bring me to Japan
That’s too bad!
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Nice photos! Thanks for dropping me a line and inviting me to check out your blog. The Navy has yet to bring me to Japan, despite the fact that I have always been on the West Coast.
Stephen
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To “S” (my 2nd daughter):
Thank you! ♪
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いいですね★ＴＯＫＹＯ５すばらしい！
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My YouTube page with the video I uploaded is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lOsMwL7vvA
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