The story
Hana is flower, mi is viewing, and the national news runs a blossom forecast so nobody misses the week. Offices send a junior ahead at dawn to hold a spot under the best tree. English can have it as blossom viewing, forecast not included.
hanami
花見hah-NAH-mee[hanami]
flower viewing: a picnic under the cherry blossoms
Closest in English: blossom-viewing, flower-viewing, blossom-watching. None of them covers it.
How it went in the game
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?Japanese
- When does it happen?Two spring weeks, blossom permitting
- How old is the custom?Heian court, over a thousand years
- What does it mean?A picnic held under blossoming cherry trees