Apr 15, 2025
Cherry blossom lingo: a floating bridge of flowers
This is the eight post in a series I've called "cherry blossom lingo". In this entry I introduce the term for when cherry blossom petals float on a body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, or even a puddle. It is said that they look like a floating bridge of flowers.
A floating bridge of flowers
I've already introduced the term for when cherry blossoms form what looks like a raft on a body of water, called an hanaikada. It is when the petals are more thick in the water. A floating bridge of flowers is when the petals are more scattered.
In Japanese it is "hana no ukihashi" (Hananoukihashi / hana-no-ukihashi) 花の浮き橋. Hana is the Japanese word for flower; as such the term can be used for any flower petals floating on the water. Uki is the Japanese word for floating, no is a particle that denotes possession and hashi means bridge. Isn't it a beautiful expression? And indeed, a beautiful phenomenon.
Have you see any hana no ukihashi, floating bridges of flowers, yet this season?
Former nickname was "Saitama". Changed it to save confusion on place review posts! Irish, 20+ years in Japan! I also write on my personal website: insaitama.com
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