Ohanami and Pi Day

Mama, Papa, and I were invited to an Ohanami event this past Sunday at the University of Washington (at the Cherry Blossom Quadrangle). None of us had heard of either of the "holidays" so it was extra interesting for all of us (Pi day just happened to be the same day and it involves eating pie, so we definitely were going to celebrate it). We had to look them up on the internet when we got home because it was really cool to see all the people out enjoying the day! Thought you all might be interested in learning about them too!

In Japan, sakura, or the cherry blossom, starts blooming in March in the south and the "blossom line" moves all the way north through April and May. People go out to view and appreciate the blossoms. This is called Ohanami.

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi) (in the month/day format: 3/14); since 3, 1 and 4 are the first three decimal digits of π. March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein and the two events are sometimes celebrated together. There is a large variety of ways of celebrating Pi Day and most of them include eating pie and discussing the relevance of π.^[1] The first Pi Day celebration was held at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies.

The "Quad" at the University of Washington - 3/14/10.



Mama and me in a tree.

Papa and me with umbrellas of cherry blossoms above our heads.