How to Create a Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) Picnic at Home

As mentioned in my previous post about hanami (complete with origami cherry blossom tutorial), I wanted to recreate a cherry blossom viewing picnic scene that’s very common in Japan right now.

I decided to use a variety of cute sakura kirigami/origami to create a peaceful hanami atmosphere, then I added some common hanami staples like a cute plastic ground sheet (used as a tablecloth), cherry blossom chopsticks, onigiri (rice balls), noodles, grilled fish, sweet snacks, and the last but not least, beer and wine.

 

 

To stay on theme, I also used my felt cherry blossom coasters, kirigami cutout sakura placemats, sakura printed placemats, and a couple of mizuhiki sakura that I made a few years ago.

 

 

 

Please let me know what you think!  I’d love to hear suggestions for future picnic setups!

 

Cute Japanese Bento Accessories for Hanami

Before I show you the complete hanami lunch setup, I want to show you some of the adorable bento accessories that I have straight from Japan (you can also find some through Amazon here).

This is a lovely metal cutout set that you can use one cheese, deli meats and vegetables like carrots:

This is a very sweet set that has a variety of shapes, including individual petals to decorate dishes.

It even comes with extra decorations that you can add in your bento boxes.

This mini mold makes cute little shapes for tiny onigiri (rice balls).

You can make bento with mini rabbit heads, star shapes, flowers and little bear heads.

A three set of rice ball shapes. These are medium sized and some with three different shapes.

You can make rows of hearts stars and bear heads…. aren’t they cute?

You can make the shapes as simple or as decorated as you like. Most people like to make the onigiri shapes and decorate them with Japanese nori (dried seaweed paper). I don’t have any special seaweed shape punches, so I’m stuck cutting everything out by hand, but you can get seaweed shape punches on Amazon.

Hanami 2010 – Cherry Blossoms and Friends

The season is in full bloom and it’s time to party and have a great time with friends.

Right now, it’s the peak of the blossoms in Tokyo, so we create events or simply find time to go out and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Yesterday was my picnic event…..and along with my party group (that was large in itself) the amount of people that went out to Yoyogi park (most famous park in the city) was unbelievable!

This year was far more packed than in previous years -truly an experience for all.

Sometimes you get lucky and get to a park early or at a time where there aren’t as many people (like a weekday afternoon):

If you ever plan a visit to Japan, try to book it during Hanami season, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the loveliest season and it’s celebrations.

Sakura Hanami Sets Are In!

I have been waiting so long to post this for all of you!

As I’m sure many of you may have already guessed…..I absolutely LOVE hanami season in Japan.

The cherry blossoms are stunning, the weather is lovely, and there’s a happy feeling in the air from everyone around, or, it’s just me who’s in a dream-like happy state. There are so many things going on, and so many sights to see. For example, one year I went out for a walk in a park and happen to find this:

To bring the Japanese hanami experience to you, I’ve created a fun picnic set for friends or a special someone for a romantic dinner under the blossoms or under the stars.

 

Hanami in Japan

Hello everyone!

My apologies for the delay in posts, but I’ve been sick in bed and slowly recovering.

For your enjoyment, I’ve posted a few pictures from previous hanami(cherry blossom viewing) picnic celebrations in Tokyo. Please click on the images for a larger view.

I absolutely love hanami season in Japan. The warm weather, blue skies, bright sun, and stunning cherry blossoms overflowing from the trees. A truly beautiful time in Japan.

I love sakura (cherry blossom) so much that my profile picture, shop logo and one of my tattoos are of sakura!

The other good thing about the hanami picnics -delicious food and drinks!

I’m counting down the days for the season to arrive, but for the moment, we have early plum blossoms to bring a little colour.

My current view…..I was lucky to snap a photo to describe Tokyo for you: blossoms, a train, a salaryman (japanese business man) and a modern building. That’s half of Tokyo for you right there!

Soon I’ll post my hanami picnic sets so you can enjoy a hanami picnic with a loved one.