"In Tokyo, the cherry blossoms were blooming. We couldn’t spot them from our bedroom on the 36th floor of the swishy Mandarin Oriental, where we had just landed after a 12-hour flight, but we could see dozens of people on the sidewalks below filing towards Kitanomaru Park, a green space near the Imperial Palace known for its sakura. The crowds were carrying blankets and wine on the way to hanami parties—picnics under the cherry blossom trees, held in celebration of the short-lived flowers. In the shops, pink and white eatables were on display, often shaped into blossoms, and in bars people were drinking cocktails sprinkled with petals. When my husband went to the hotel spa to arrange a post-flight massage, he returned with a booking for a “sakura edition” treatment, which began with a cherry blossom salt scrub and finished with a bowl of blush-colored ice cream." - Jo Rodgers