Celebrate VCBF Vancouver Cherry blossom festival and Tokyo cherry blossom diaries

Posted by Amrita Sondhi on

In Roppongi Hills where we are staying, the neighborhood is full of designer boutiques, hotels, restaurants & cafés. We wandered out to partake in Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. The Sakura are almost more beautiful by night than by day. They are lit perfectly, planted over ponds, so you can double your pleasure with their reflections. The benches are carefully chosen rocks. We lay down under a canopy of Sakura and felt like we were looking at the Milky Way. This particular pond, Mohri, is special as it is filled Space Medaka: fish whose ancestors were bred on a space mission (True Story). Another thing of note: the Japanese always sing out in Praise of Shadows (just as the renowned author Yasushie Inoue wrote in his treatise about Japanese aesthetics). They shy away from that which is bright and shiny and in-your-face, leaning towards that which is obscured, concealed, hidden, aged or dark. For them, the play of light and shadow is essential. This subtlety and refinement is reflected in almost everything they create. The need to slow down and focus your attention awakens your senses in order to appreciate something because it requires more effort to take in is what is stressed.

I experienced my first taste of this understanding while walking among the cherry blossoms last night.

by Sona Sippy Sondhi, in Tokyo

Movement is a proud to support the 

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival:
March 24th-April 17/2016
 presented by Vancouver Board of Parks and recreation

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) is an annual spring festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia to celebrate the beauty of Vancouver’s cherry trees. The festival’s fundamental objectives includes public education through seasonal, cherry-themed, city-wide viewing programs, musical performances, and fine art and craft exhibitions. It enables Vancouverites and those in surrounding areas to appreciate the beauty of cherry blossoms.

Buy a limited edition artist designed and signed umbrella in a Movement store for only $25 to show your support for the festival. Each of your purchases between now and April 17th enters you into our raffle to win an umbrella!

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival was founded in 2005 by Linda Poole, its executive director, to commemorate the 800 cherry trees given by Japan to the City of Vancouver. (a frequent Movement customer, we are proud to say!) 10th annual festival March 25-April 17th 2016, check out website for calendar of events. www.vcbf.ca