Yozakura - night time cherry blossom viewing

This evening I went to a nice small park near to my home. I went for yozakura. It means viewing cherry blossoms in the evening/night.
The cherry blossom are finally out in force and very beautiful.
I like the night time as it is silent and the moon was out and the lanterns were lit so the atmosphere was just right.

Lots of people come out to sit under the cherry blossom trees with friends and just relax, eat, drink and be merry.


I brought with me such food as negitori yakitori (chiken pieces and welsh onion sgments, cooked on kebab sticks and covered with a sweet sauce), harumaki (fried spring rolls), gyouza (fried dumplings), fried chicken, pizza, kakifry (oysters, fried in breadcrumbs and served with lemon and mayonnaise) and of course, beer. A few beers.
I choose YonaYona ale and Hoegaarden white ale for this evening. Nice.

This is the tree I rested under:

The moon was out and shining bright. It was about half full and very nice.
Here is a shot of the moon through the trees:

The lanterns were lit and were so beautiful.
It all just added to the tranquility of the evening.

There were some other groups that represented a cross section of Japanese:

• a group of office workers, young and old, in suits and fresh from the office, sitting together, eating and drinking from produce bought at the convenience store.
• a group of youths, scooters parked nearby, sitting together in a confused state of traditional and modern, doing what they were supposed to be doing as Japanese, but rebelling in their own little way (e.g. pretending to smash some wooden boards but hurting their hands, riding off together to the shops to buy more booze and revving their little scooters as they went - then coming back together, as if too scared to be on their own).
• a group of young adults, perhaps on a dating party.
• a group of friends, eating and playing badminton under the blossoms, in the light of the lanterns.
  
• the foreigner, watching it all.
  

It was a most pleasant evening.

Here's a final photo, showing a few groups under the trees: