Fotos

A flower's life is short. The season of cherry blossoms is only few weeks. Now petals are blown and falling like a snow storm. That is a reason this blossom was loved by samurais. For a samurai, falling petal was a symbol of a manly death in a battle filed without holding on to his life.

Now, chivalry is dead. There are no samurais anymore today. But also for Buddhists (and non-Buddhist living in Japanese tradition), cherry blossoms symbolise the fleetingnes of life and the physical world. Cherry blossom festival looks amusing and riotously, but there also is a hidden sense of mortality behind that.

(Kiyamachi street, Kyoto)