LoZ - Hyrule's Hanami Festival
The Hanami Festival was originally a Sheikah holiday that has since been adopted by all of Hyrule.
The beginning of spring is spent harvesting Satori Cherries from the villages' nearest Satori Tree(s) which are then used to brew various alcoholic beverages. As is tradition, the highest-quality yield from that year is then offered back to Satori as thanks for him allowing the villagers to enjoy the fruits of his blessing & the bounty of spring.
Then, it's held on the final 3 days of spring during the evenings. The biggest & grandest one being held in the field between Mabe Village & Castle Town where many make the journey to celebrate.
Was originally, for the most part, a holiday to focus on & enjoy the beauty of spring & observe the flowers blooming with picnics, which is much like how Hanami is celebrated IRL.
However, since Satori's first appearance, honoring him has been added to the festival due to him being a minor god of spring. Even today, the festival isn't solely focused on the devout worship of him so much as it is about celebrating spring through honoring him. Or is it honoring him by simply celebrating spring?
Anyway, it even used to be that long before Satori came to be that Farore, the Great Deku Tree, & Karina were all also honored in some way at Hanami, but due to the worship of The Three falling by the wayside & the Deku Tree living in a forest that most are unable to visit, this has been largely forgotten. Really only Karina is remembered & still actively honored out of the 3 mentioned.
Even still, traditional Hanami decorations still feature iconography of Farore & the Deku Tree even though no one truly remembers where this iconography originally came from.
Despite all the hullabaloo, many families still opt to take the more chill route to celebrate by just going to enjoy the spring air & scenery together on picnics anyway.
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Hanami also has a lot of different springtime activities & games such as bug catching & fishing. Not to mention music & plenty of other things to buy besides food & drinks.
There's also arts, crafts, jewelry, springtime fashion, & so on.
And, again, this isn't all in worship of Satori, specifically, but rather a general celebration of spring, new life, & new beginnings.
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Many villages team up into pairs to make their alcoholic offerings to Satori.
Kakariko makes Satori Sake, which is brewed from Satori Cherries, Hylian Rice, & Rushrooms (the Rushrooms are meant to take the place of koji which is a type of fungal yeast that the Japanese use for brewing sake).
Hyrule Castle Town & Mabe work together to make Satori Bourbon, which is made from Satori Cherries, Tabantha Wheat, & Zonai Corn.
Hateno makes Satori Mead, made from Satori Cherries & Courser Bee Honey.
Lurelin makes Satori Rama, which is made of Satori Cherries & Cane Sugar.
Terry Town makes Satori Liqueur using Satori Cherries, Zonai Corn, Sugar, & Sundelions.
Deya makes Satori Moscato from Satori Cherries, Cane Sugar, Sweetvine Grapes, & Shock Fruit.
Gaponga & Zora's Domain work together to make Satori Wine which is made using Satori Cherries, Cane Sugar, & Splash Fruit.
Tabantha Village & Rito Village work together to make Satori Vodka with Satori Cherries, Tabantha Wheat & Hearty Radishes/Tundra Potatoes.
Ordon makes Satori Whiskey which is made from Satori Cherries & Zonai Corn.
Ealiyah & Gerudo Town work together to make Sàtrï Shedeh which is made from Satori Cherries, Bloodberry Grapes, Warm/Cool Safflina, Oasis Honey, & Frostbane Blossom/Desert Queen. Whether Warm Safflina & Frostbane Blossom or Cool Safflina & Desert Queens are used depends on which town is heading the brewing process that year.
Shadow Hamlet & Goron City work together to make Satori Vodka which is made from Satori Cherries, Warm Safflina, & Hylian Rice. They have a bit of a rivalry with Hebra over which vodka recipe is better.
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At the Central Hyrule Hanami Festival, guests & representatives from other villages tend to gather & set up food booths with spring treats from their hometown.
Things like Satorimochi from Kakariko, Cherry Pies from Ordon, Satori Slushes & Satori Crepes from Gerudo & Ealiyah, & more.
Also, many non-cherry centric treats are enjoyed too. Things like Profiteroles from Castle Town & Mabe, Beingets from Goponga, Honeymilk for the kids, Meat Buns & Sunkin Pies from Hateno, Meat Pies & Tabantha Bakes from Hebra, Hot Buttered or Honeyed Apples, Malasada & Baked Bananas from Lurelin, Wildberry Crepes & Pies from Ealiyah, Spiced Meat Skewers from Eldin, a variety of barbeques from Ordon, ect.
Not to mention a wide variety of alcohols & cocktails. Like Courser Mead, Umeshu from Kakariko, Cinder Ales from Eldin, Aqua Vitas (both regular & frozen sangría styles), Chateau Romani from Mabe, Bloody Hildas from Tabantha, & more.
Faron & the Gerudo just sort of open up makeshift bars with a whole array of booze & cocktails.
For instance, Lurelin has Dirty Bananas, Kalima ʻAlani (both regular & daiquiri styles), Lurelin Sunsets, & Paina Coladas.
Meanwhile, the Gerudo have Hot Toddies, Hydromelon Daiquiris, Shockonanas, Noble Pursuits, & Spiced Pineapple Shrugs.
LoZ Cultural Masterlist
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Spring has officially sprung! While the temperatures are still mostly cool in my area, a highly anticipated event in Japan has already begun. For the first time in three years due to the coronavirus outbreak, Japanese parks are open for the annual cherry blossom festival.
In Japan, the ancient tradition of enjoying the beautiful but ephemeral blossoms of cherry trees is called hanami, which literally means “flower viewing.” Today, people from across Japanese society congregate under the cherry trees to informally enjoy food, drink, and perhaps music with family, friends, or coworkers while sitting on plastic sheets or picnic mats spread upon the ground.
Customary foods include bento box lunches, hanami dango (sweet tricolored dumplings), and sakura mochi, an iconic confection of pink sticky rice filled with red bean paste and covered with a pickled cherry leaf.
In some locations, the trees are lit with floodlights or lanterns when darkness falls, and the party goes on well into the night. This is called yozakura, or “night sakura.”
This event typically begins in late March to early April, though this year there have been several reports of early blooms. I hope to one day see this festival, but for now, Kiku will enjoy it! She's staked out a spot to gaze at the delicate pink and white flowers, and she's enjoying some sakura treats as well (including the dango)!
Staking out a spot:
Gazing at the beautiful sakura and enjoying the dango:
Time for some sakura snacks!
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