Of Petals and Pilgrims in Old Japan

05 May Of Petals and Pilgrims in Old Japan

Last month I had the grand pleasure of leading a small group of impassioned and intrepid travelers through Kyoto and Shikoku, Japan. We experienced a splendid spectrum of delights, from visiting with monks and pilgrims at venerable temples and shrines, to making omochi rice paste sweets and soba noodles, to sleeping in a 300-year-old beautifully restored farmhouse, to feasting on fresh caught bonito in a fishing village, to soaking our cares away in remote outdoor hot spring spas. Everywhere we went, we were greeted with soul-warming graciousness and hospitality. There were so many highlights from this journey that it is impossible to select just one, but among the most memorable – and serendipitous – splendors was the fact that just as we arrived, the country’s cherry blossoms erupted virtually overnight into spectacular pink-petaled bloom.

© Don George

I described the ensuing festivities – and the soaring spirit they embodied – in a Letter from Kyoto for National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog:

“When I reached grand Maruyama Park, spotlights illuminated one of the most famous cherry trees in all Japan, a venerable shidarezakura, a weeping variety resembling a fountain spraying petals in every direction. Throngs of 21st-century admirers snapped photos, while a half-minute walk away, locals expressed their admiration as the Japanese have for centuries, with hanami blossom-viewing parties: sitting on mats and feasting, dancing, and occasionally exulting in song to the star-budded sky.

“Another half-minute walk away, strings of red and white lanterns demarcated a brightly lit area where low tables had been placed on platforms and encircled with cushions for seating. Here waiters hustled between smoky, temptingly scented food shacks, serving a ceaseless flow of noodles, rice balls, and skewered meats to families, couples, work colleagues, students, and tourists who had all gathered congenially elbow to elbow to toast the petals–and, as the night soared, each other–with an equally endless flow of sake and beer.

“The cherry trees had blossomed once again, and all was right with the world.”

And all was right with our journey as well, an immersion through petals and pilgrims into the heart and soul of Old Japan.

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Don George

Don George is the Adventure Collection’s Web Editor in Chief. A highly respected and pioneering travel journalist for more than three decades, Don is the author of "The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George," and of "Lonely Planet's Guide to Travel Writing." Don is currently Editor at Large for National Geographic Traveler and Special Features Editor for BBC Travel. He has also been Global Travel Editor for Lonely Planet Publications, Travel Editor at the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle, and founder and editor of Salon.com’s travel site, Wanderlust. In addition to authoring two books, Don has edited ten literary travel anthologies, including “The Kindness of Strangers,” “An Innocent Abroad," and "Better Than Fiction." He has won numerous awards for his writing and editing, and he speaks, teaches, and consults at campuses, conferences, and corporations around the world.

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