It's the cherry-blossom season, and you know what that means -- we no longer have to look at those silly purple cabbage plants that have grown into conehead spectacles begging to be trodden down by a loose hippo. Yes, Japan's winter pallor will soon be infused with the colors of spring: pink "sakura" (cherry blossoms) fire engine-red "chew lips" (tulips) and house lizards with metallic blue tails.
It's a time when the ultranationalists polish their behemoth trucks and do sound checks to make sure you can hear them all the way down in Okinawa. It's the time of year when everything in Japan starts anew: the school year, jobs and added trash pickup regulations. But most importantly, this is the season when Japan erupts into fits of karaoke and dance under the cherry trees in a unique juxtaposition of humanity and nature. Even grandmothers dance under the trees.
Cherry-blossom viewing, an event that exudes that all-encompassing national "wa," is a mandatory event and at this time of year, you will find every good Japanese under a cherry tree.