For some people, there must be a pragmatic reason for everything. I still cannot forget a question that my coworker asked me about two decades ago. I like motorcycle, and he asked me “why do you ride a motorcycle? You cannot carry a load.” Whatever I explained, he never understood I simply enjoy riding it. For him every vehicle is a tool to move from one place to another and carry a load. For another example, as I wrote in an old post, coffee is something to make “efficiently” for someone. By the way she drinks a glass of red wine everyday for her health. Wine is not something to enjoy but a kind of supplement for her. Those two people must be extreme examples, but for some other people it seems difficult to understand that everyone has different preference and that people often spend time to enjoy something that doesn’t seem practical or efficient for other people.
What I did last weekend maybe difficult for those people to understand, though I strongly believe the majority of people understand it; I made a day trip to Toyokawa, Aichi prefecture, to watch Sakura (cherry blossoms) and to visit a Buddhist temple. It took about an hour and half from my place to Toyokawa by train, but it was worth visiting.
花見 –hanami– is a Japanese culture that literally means “watching blossoms (flowers)”. Generally it means having a party (picnic) under cherry blossoms, but taking a walk under cherry blossoms can be hanami as well. What I did in Toyokawa was the latter one. I wanted to go there by myself, and one of the reasons is that I wanted walk slowly at the Buddhist temple. If I go there with other people, they walk at their pace and as a result they rush me, as I wrote in a previous post. Another reason is that I just wanted to feel easy. Picnic-type hanami is often tough especially at a popular hamani spot; you have to go to the spot way ahead of time to hold a space in a crowd, as depicted in this TV commercial. But what I saw in Toyokawa was unexpectedly peaceful.
Some people had picnic on the spacious bank of Sana river. Some people took a walk on the path, including myself. Whether you had a picnic in a crowd or take a relaxing walk, time passes anyways. If you do something “efficiently”, you may be able to do more in a limited time. But I prefer forgetting the time.
In this day trip I also enjoyed visiting a famous Buddhist temple called Tokokawa Inari. I admit that I’m not a pious Buddhist. I’m not a pious Shintoist either. But I like visiting shrines and temples. Those are places where I forget about busy daily life and remind myself that I am still human. I also enjoy being in tranquil scenery.
Whatever I do, time passes anyways. When I work on weekdays and do housework on weekends, I may need to think of efficiency. But I still like myself when I forget the time. Time passes anyways.