April is called Uzuki, a short form for U-no-hana-zuki,
which means that it is a time when the flowers of Utsugi,
or deutzia crenata, blossom. The name of the month
appears in Japanﾕs oldest written histories, Kojiki and
Nihon-shoki, as well as the oldest collection of Japanese
poetry, Man-yo-shu. The Chinese character U is
also used in the Chinese zodiac as the fourth sign of the
hare.
April fourth is called Seimei in the traditional Japanese
division of the year into 24 small seasons. This is the time
of year when everything is getting fresh.
Come spring, water in streams becomes warmer and
plants sprout. Daytime temperatures often rise to be
slightly sweaty, but they drop to lows in mornings and
nights.
Weather changes drastically day after day, often
bringing back chilly days called Kan-no-modori. High
and low pressure systems take turns and move over the
Japanese archipelago during the month, sometimes
causing a storm and help cherry blossoms fall faster
than they should.

Fresh sake is also pressed in April following March,
calling for our attention.New sake is regarded as a
youth in various types of sake.As it is young, its texture is
not yet solid.This, in a sense, is the vitality of fresh
sake.The best way to appreciate sake at this time of
year is to accept the vitality as it is.
　 Cherry blossom viewing cannot happen without cups
of sake.Drinking parties, sitting under cherry blossoms in
circles, are a typical landscape of this season, but
singing-out-loud sprees and getting dead drunk should
both be avoided.
　 Cherry blossom viewing is believed to have originated
as a custom of farmers who completed rice planting
and gathered to pray for good harvests of the year
under the blossoms.They would have never lost control
after drinking sake.
　 The taste of fresh brew should be enjoyed in a relaxed
mood amid falling petals of the blossoms, while guessing
over what kind of rice the sake was made from,
how much the rice is polished or what kind of ferment is
used.

In the Kaiseki course of cuisine, several types of appetizers,
each one mouthful served on a plate, follow
Sakizuke dish.These appetizers are to accent the following
dishes and meant to make the meal and drinking
more gorgeous.
These appetizers are tend to be served on plates of the
host’s choice, small Hassun plates or other ones of
elaborate designs, for example.Let the beauty of the
earthenware delight our eyes as the flavors do our
palates.

Bamboo shoot
　 The Chinese character for the bamboo shoot means
a shoot that is within 10 days from sprouting.It tells how
fast bamboo grows, that the shoot becomes a hard
stem beyond that time frame.Bamboo shoots right
after being dug out has a soft texture and is free of
usual bitterness, so it can be served raw.This used to be
only available in areas close to the production sites,
but various home delivery services now allows fresh
bamboo shoots to be delivered even to far away in a
shorter time.One should boil the shoots as soon as they
arrived to have a better taste of them.
　 When choosing one at a greengrocer’s, choose a
fresh, green and thick one with narrow joints.It should
be boiled in a large pot with red pepper and rice bran
in it.Then leave it inside the pot until the whole pot
cools down.
　 Kinome-ae, or boiled bamboo shoots with miso bean
paste and pepper leaf buds, and bamboo shoots
simmered with butterbur, will make the best seasonal
accompaniments to sake.which are thin, chewy, and
unpalatable.