花見

Hanami = cherry blossom viewing = getting ridiculously drunk on sake and assorted lagers and foolishly mismanaging your chopsticks enough to drop one of the only two delicious looking pieces of crab on the floor and then gazing at it longingly for several long moments. And some other stuff besides. Like frisbee and hide-and-seek and climbing trees and gazing at other trees. And returning home to sleep off the rice wine only to be woken by the mysterious presence of my mother's disembodied voice in the darkened room. Somewhat disturbed I finally discovered that my mobile phone has a built in automatic speaker triggered by voice messages.
The cherry blossom at Wakayama Castle park are not as resplendent as they should be at this time of year - it's been unusually mild - but the hint of what is to come is there and it's easy to see how beautiful the Castle grounds will look in just a few more days. Several trees, however, were boasting full glory and it is one of these you see pictured below.



I like Hanami, it's fun, and it seems a much more natural excuse for boozing out of doors than say, baby boar pig racing, which I'd like to claim as an original idea of mine and yet, fascinatingly, it's already a Wakayama-ken institution. If you're not busy on May 3rd and happen to be in the vicinity of Susami Town between 8am and 4pm come see the 25th annual Pig Derby in which, it says here, '3-month old boar pigs will race in a specially made 100 metre track with built in obstacles'. Presumably some of those 'obstacles' might well be the punters signed-up for the 'Pork udon eating contest' which apparently follows the racing. Wouldn't miss this for the world.