Japanese folks have been flocking to the park for the past few days to catch the blossoming of the Sakura trees. For Today’s Japan Photo, we are going to take a look at the large crowd that Japanese folks who are participating in Hanami 花見.

This particular photo was taken off shibuya 246′s photo article on the hanami at Ueno Park. I loved this particular photo because it captures the many people who are flocking to the park and yet it shows the beautiful blossoming sakura trees at the top of the frame.

Here’s a description of Hanami 花見 that I took off Wikipedia:

Hanami (花見) is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, “flower” in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻), or ume blossoms (梅). From mid January to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan.

The blossom forecast (桜前線) is announced each year by the weather bureau, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami as the blossoms only last a week or two. In modern-day Japan, hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. Hanami at night is called yozakura. In many places such as Ueno Park temporary paper lanterns are hung for the purpose of yozakura.