2008 Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival

Every spring Japan celebrates the blooming of the cherry blossom tree (which does not produce cherries). Last year we attended the cherry blossom festival at the Hirosaki castle and noticed the Japanese would have "tarp parties." All this involves, as the name suggests, is a tarp, food, and drink.

The food of choice is sushi, and the drink of choice for these tarp parties is sake. Sake is a rice wine native to Japan. There are several different types (some you drink hot, some cold, some room temperature). We have a friend who is a Japanese medical student (Hiro) that organized our own little tarp party.

Many of these tarp parties are Japanese college students, and their level of intoxication was sort of scary. As we were exiting the castle grounds it looked like a war zone with the bodies of passed out Japanese college students scattered around.

Although Amy and our friend Lyndsey are doing a great impersonation of these students, we kept our drinking a little more moderate...well, Amy and Lyndsey did anyway.

I know this picture isn't from the festival, but I had to throw it in there. We had a costume party (how old are we?) at the bowling alley for our friend Lyndsey's birthday. We went as crash test dummies. Next up....summer hiking!