A haiku by Kobayashi Issa
hana no kage / aka no tanin wa / nakari keri
Under the cherry blossoms
strangers are not
really strangers
Paradise Gardens
London W6
£3,000,000
The poetry of blossom:
An appreciation of London's fleeting cherry blossom and the meaningfulness of hanami
Nature
28/04/2026
Hanami is the Japanese tradition of cherry blossom viewing. It began in the 8th-century Nara period, initially celebrating plum blossoms before the focus was shifted to sakura, or cherry blossoms in the Heian period.
This week, we bid farewell to our own glorious cherry blossoms. In the course of our travels, over the last few weeks, we have seen some of the best on offer, raining pink and white petals on our gardens, parks and avenues.
Some of the finest in London can be found in Greenwich Park, Kew Gardens, Holland Park’s Kyoto Garden, and Ravenscourt Park. St Paul’s Cathedral also offers a brilliant, striking backdrop.
Many of London’s residential streets also provide great displays of cherry rows, and our appreciation for all things petal-ly should really extend to the many wonderful wisteria displays that cling to our facades.
There are lots of less touristy, quieter options, like Lewisham Park (pictured above), where upon our last visit, in exceedingly ironic British fashion, workers armed with noisy leaf-blowers waged war on the pesky pink petals, no doubt under some edict of essential health and safety.
Sakura have served as a foundational source of inspiration in Japanese poetry for centuries, symbolising the beauty, transience, and impermanence of life.
Their fleeting bloom evokes the consideration of mono no aware (the pathos of things); the bittersweet awareness that beauty is precious because it does not last.
Sakura have served as a foundational source of inspiration in Japanese poetry for centuries, symbolising the beauty, transience, and impermanence of life.
Their fleeting bloom evokes the consideration of mono no aware (the pathos of things); the bittersweet awareness that beauty is precious because it does not last.
