As it gets warmer on Shiraishi Island, the old ladies sit out on their porches to warm themselves in the sun. There is renewed activity on the port as 83-year-old Man-chan scurries around his party tent, taking down Christmas lights and decorations.
Time doesn't slow down here, it just lengthens. Holidays are much longer here than on the mainland, and one holiday tends to run into the next. The annual island cherry blossom viewing party will take place twice this year because once just wasn't enough. Even after including the numerous unofficial nighttime cherry blossom viewing parties under the lanterns and the after-parties in Man-chan's tent. For an island of just 659 people, we rock.
Another sign of spring is foreign tourists who come to the island to hike in the mountains, walk the Buddhist pilgrimage, or just laze around on an empty beach.