Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Travels through the Time of Cherry Trees



A picaresque proposal…

Chikara: Had this idea of following the cherry blossom season starting from western Japan in mid-March and taking a couple of months to travel up to Hokkaido where they bloom in mid May.

Chiharu: Sounds intense. Why don’t you just stay in one place and watch one tree every day? Take a time lapse photograph once an hour. Make a movie of the petals falling. Cheaper.

Chikara: But that’s not a travel narrative. It’s only a temporal narrative.


__________
Voice-over
Following the cherry blossom blooming seems to have elements of a picaresque tale, since it does carry a hint of satirical comedy, and seems for some, like Chiharu, a pointless quest. But is the hero Chikara, or Cherry Blossom herself? Could Cherry Blossom be personified perhaps? Can a traveling tale have multiple heroines?
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