April 8, 2012 - Yoyogi Koen

We wanted to take the kids to see cherry blossoms en masse.  We decided to visit Yoyogi Koen, a very large park near our home.  We started out with an errand to get some pool cues repaired, and then we headed to the park to walk through it on the way home.  We thought that the park would be crowded, and indeed it was (and this is before you actually get to any cherry trees):

People spread tarps under the cherry trees and sit and eat and drink.  Alcohol is often a large part of a hanami party.  But not always: one of my Japanese teachers said she and some of her relatives sat under the cherry trees drinking tea.  However, at Yoyogi Koen, alcohol was definitely involved.  Drew said it reminded him of an SEC tailgate party.  After I saw the Japanese man in a cherry tree wearing only his underwear, which he then pulled down, I thought it reminded me of Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.  We did go fairly late in the day, around 5 pm.  So some of the people we saw had been there ALL day. 

I can't remember if all four of us or only three of us had our phones and were taking pictures.  Either way, I had a LOT of pictures for this walk.  Here are a "few" of our pictures: