Time and Cherry Blossoms

 After days of unsettled weather, the rain finally stopped. I took a morning walk along Dankazura at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, enjoying the early cherry blossoms.

 

The cherry blossoms in Kamakura are about half in bloom now. They will likely reach full bloom all at once by this weekend. With friends coming over the day after tomorrow, the timing could not be better.

Today is March 27.
It feels early—too early.

Even if I feel rushed realizing that a quarter of the year has already passed, it does not mean that time itself is moving any faster. The cherry blossoms are proof of that. Human time does not run ahead of nature; it is only our perception that accelerates.

People often say that time feels faster as we grow older. That may be true, and there are studies that support this idea. But in the end, it remains a matter of individual perception. Time itself does not shorten equally for everyone with age.

Cherry blossoms reliably bloom between mid- and late March. Since Somei Yoshino trees are clones, they serve as a consistent marker of the seasons. At least, it is not the case that this year alone has suddenly accelerated.

If the seasons were truly speeding up, it would mean that all cherry trees share that shortened time. But human experience does not follow such a simple rule.

Thinking about this slightly cumbersome idea, I glance at the cherry blossoms visible from the train window on my commute.

In Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are said to reach full bloom today, just a little ahead.

They may not measure time with the precision of a quartz clock. But perhaps time itself was never meant to be that exact.

Time may feel faster, but nature keeps its own steady pace.