Hanami
The Japanese custom of gathering outdoors to enjoy flowers in bloom, above all cherry blossom.
Also: cherry blossom viewing
Hanami means flower viewing. In spring, friends, families and colleagues spread mats under flowering cherry trees in parks and along rivers to eat and drink together. The custom is many centuries old and began among the court nobility, at first with plum blossom. Each year a blossom forecast tracks the flowering as it moves north through Japan from the subtropical south. The flowers last about a week or two in any one place. Viewing at night under lanterns is called yozakura.