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Accurate Blooming Schedule for Ohanami

It's April in Tokyo and a Domino's delivery person braves a snowstorm on her bicycle. She expertly weaves in and out of the drunks who crowd the street as they make their way to restrooms or back to their mats in the park. She stops at the edge of the park and makes a quick call on her cell phone. As she scans the crowd, she spots the waving group of merry makers and makes her way over to them, tiptoeing through the plastic tarps that cover the ground like a patchwork quilt.

"Sakura fubuki!" The pizza lovers yell after they settle their bill, as they toast the falling snowy white petals, or cherry blossom snowstorm. It's good luck if they fall in your cup.

Thousands of people crowd the local park as they celebrate sakura, cherry blossoms,
Japan's official flower which signifies the coming of spring and the beginning of the school and fiscal years. To some Japanese, ohanami viewing parties simply present an excuse to spend an uninhibited weekend picnicking, drinking and singing impromptu karaoke with friends and family.

I took my local train to Kichi-joji, my favorite neighborhood for shopping and
socializing, and exited on the park side of the station, which dumped me out onto the normally manageable pedestrian-dominated streets. Today was a different scene
altogether. It took thirty minutes to navigate my way through an area that usually takes ten. I even tried my usual shortcuts down unknown alleyways but to no avail. The young and old from every neighboring town had emerged to enjoy the official weekend for ohanami.

As I turned down the street leading to Inokashira-koen, Inokashira Park, I passed vendors selling everything from yaki-tori, barbecued meat and vegetables on skewers, to American-style hot dogs. People were rushing in and out of konbini, convenience stores, to grab bags of chips and bottles of booze. Many stopped at the conveniently located Starbucks for a jolt of caffeine in preparation for the long, and possibly chilly, night ahead.

A successful ohanami requires planning and strategy. Typically, the lowest ranking
company workers are sent to the parks with tarps to stake out an area until their
colleagues join them later that evening. Partying in shifts is also an option. Night owls will often take over the site of a group that decides to go home at eleven or midnight.

I came at noon to take over the Guarding of the Tarp for our group. A friend of mine had arrived early in the morning to claim a prime spot under the

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