For those who messed up hanami and tatami – tatamis are the hay squares which lay the floor in homes. By the way, many homes’ area is still measured in the amount of tatamis, not square feet.

Hanami is when the Sakura starts blooming, and families gather for picnics under the flowering trees. Some do see it as a good occasion for drinking 🙂

Sakura flowers do not smell – but they are astonishingly beautiful, first white, then pink after the first rain.

Osaka castle is surrounded by a ditch and sakura garden. I visited it on the very peak of the hanami season, and it was flooded (and I did not mean the ditch). People were having “picnics” standing, or even just sitting right on the road.

Unlike Himeji, Osaka Castle is much more modernized. It even has an elevator, and one of its floors is the museum, while the top one is a lookout point. Like Himeji, it used to be a Samurai Castle, built (or redesigned?) by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

A boy born into poor farmer family, he started his journey as a servant to one of the prominent generals of his time. The boy would warm up his shoes during cold winters, and eventually deserved recognition. His career in the army led him to becoming an influential politician and chief of Imperial Army. Closer to the end of his life, Toyotomi became paranoidal. He accused many – including his wife – in plotting against the throne. She, along with many others, would then become decapitated. Toyotomi’s madness did not affect his only son (not born by his official wife), probably because he was a toddler at the time. Following the unsuccessful attack on Korea, Toyotomi died at age 62.

This story gives me Game of Thrones vibes 🙂