JAPAN is about to explode into a riot of pinkish hues and its citizens can hardly contain themselves. From now until the end of April, the colour will dominate everything from Kirin beer labels and bento box wrappers to department store window displays and newsreaders' neckties, as the nation braces itself for another season of hanami.

Hana means 'flower' and mi is 'to view', and it has been a yearly tradition as far back as anyone can remember to usher in spring with a glass of sake (or three) beneath blossoming cherry trees.

Typically, the blooming period lasts between 10 and 14 days, beginning in late March in Okinawa and the southern Honshu island, and winding up around late April in Hokkaido. Cooler-than-usual temperatures this year, however, mean most trees are still bulging at the bud, and in time-conscious Japan, this is creating headaches for many companies who have been planning their hanami parties since January.

It is easy to understand the hanami fever. Spring signifies a period of new beginnings for the Japanese; it is the commencement of the school term and the new financial year, and the time most large companies do their hiring and training of new recruits. It is also about this time that karoshi - death by overwork - reaches its peak as employees struggle to meet deadlines, finalise accounts, and receive job transfer notices to far-flung places.

Getting rip-roaring drunk is therefore seen as acceptable. Many feel that the short-lived cherry blossoms are akin to the life of a modern-day samurai: bright and optimistic at the beginning, then wilting and finally, getting scattered by the April winds and showers.

The blossoming cherry tree, or sakura itself, remains an enduring symbol of Japanese culture. One finds it embossed on everything from coins and bank passbook covers, to formal dress kimonos and even the fingernails of fashionable women.

The origins of hanami are said to date back to the seventh century, when the blooming of cherry blossoms was considered an accurate indicator for the condition of the coming harvests.

Full blooms, for instance, would signify a bountiful rice harvest and this would be cause for celebration among the merchant classes who generally kicked up their heels with concerts and fine kimonos.

By the end of the 17th century, the hanami party had become a ritual popular across all social classes.

Arrive early at some of the more famous blossom-viewing venues like Tokyo's Ueno Park or Osaka Castle, and you may find many of the prime picnic spots already snapped up.

Savvy company bosses often send their new employees out early, sometimes at sunrise, to stake a claim for the departmental do. This explains the large number of young men in suits snoozing away the morning hours on vast blue picnic sheets, while they wait for their senior colleagues to arrive with trolleys laden with beer, sake and bento boxes.

So get in early, grab a bento, and buy plenty of beer. Hanami comes but once a year!

Simon Rowe is a freelance writer based in Japan.

Note: This article was part of the Natas Travel 2006 Special published in The Straits Times on March 23, 2006. As a reference to the project's main lead, 'Travel is a numbers game', it's original headline in print was: '14 days of cherry blossoms fever send the Japanese outdoors in droves'.