Between the lacklustre spring weather Canada has had of late, the snow storms out East and news of winter weather sticking around for another two weeks, we're just about ready to skip right on over to summer.
But that would mean we'd be missing out on a few of our favourite spring activities, like Hanami.
Visitors admire cherry blossoms which begin blooming at Shinjuku Gyoen park in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
A man admires cherry blossoms lit up at night in a park in Kawasaki, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Hanami translates to "flower viewing" in Japanese, but it has come to mean "cherry blossom festival", even though "sakura" is the actual word for the flowers, which bloom every spring in Japan.
Cars go through a tunnel of blooming cherry blossoms in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Visitors look at cherry blossoms which begin blooming at Ueno Park in Tokyo. Tens of thousands of admirers will be expected to show up at the park to enjoy the white pink blossoms. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The festivals typically spring up at the end of March and run until May and can be found in some of Japan's tourist-friendly cities like Nagano, Tokyo and Kyoto.
Foreign tourists take a photo in front of the blooming cherry blossoms near the Chidorigafuchi Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
People enjoy the blooming cherry blossoms in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
As much as the festivals are a symbol of winter's end, it's also a time for everyone in Japan to get outside and enjoy the company of friends and family.
People on a boat enjoy the blooming cherry blossoms along the Chidorigafuchi Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
A man wearing a beer mug mask waits for the start of his cherry blossoms viewing party at Ueno Park in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
So if you're on the verge of forgetting what your friends, family and spring weather actually look like, head far East. And if you can't make it out that far, Washington D.C. and Vancouver are both prime spots for cherry blossom viewing, albeit with substantially cooler temperatures.
Visitors look at cherry blossoms which begin blooming at Shinjuku Gyoen park in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
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