“As spring breaks in Japan, the sakura, or cherry blossom trees, begin to burst into a cotton candy tableau. The petals usually hold fast to their branches for only a matter of days — a national symbol of how fleeting life and beauty can be, embraced by everybody from schoolgirls to yakuza (crime syndicates). Most Japanese take advantage of this small window for their first picnic of the year, drinking and cavorting with friends and co-workers under the blossoms before they flutter to the ground in a surreal pink snowfall. Even in Japan’s severe salaryman culture, couples, cliques, and entire companies skip work to congregate under the nearest sakura trunk to drink, sing, and eat delicious food, usually made by someone in attendance.”