Are you enjoying the sakura?  It’s so beautiful in Akita these days!  I was looking for a movie with sakura, and I remembered this movie from 2005, Memoirs of a Geisha, starring Ken Watanabe and Zhang Ziyi.  The movie was so-so, but there was this scene with cherry blossoms.  Enjoy!

Sayuri, today, even the cherry blossoms are envious of her.

I’d like to… to thank you for your attention to Nobu-san.  Nobu can be a difficult man.  So you see dear, at parties, sake only in moderation.

And he disdains Geisha.  But he . . . he’s fond of you.

Because you admire him, I respect him more.

He would never tell you himself. He’s far too modest.

You have to savour life while you can.

The lesson of the cherry blossom.

That is why Nobu likes you.

We must not expect happiness Sayuri, it is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it’s a sudden gift, it cannot last forever.

I’ll pick up three phrases today.

First, sake only in moderation.  It means don’t drink too much  especially at parties.  We can use this phrase for many things, for example:

Eat sweets only in moderation.

Exercise only in moderation.

Study English only in moderation.  (JK!)

Next, You have to savour life while you can.  You must enjoy things (like cherry blossoms) while they’re here, NOW!  For example,

You have to enjoy grandchildren while they’re young!

You have to savour your health while you have it!

You should savour Trump while he’s still president.  It will be over soon . . . .I hope, I hope, I hope!

And finally, happiness is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it’s a sudden gift, it cannot last forever.

This is more of a proverb than a phrase.  Sayuri calls it “the lesson of the cherry blossom”.  In America it is thought that this is a very Japanese (Buddhist) way of thinking.  Do you agree with this?

Next week I’ll be on vacation for Golden Week.  I hope you all have a great vacation.  See you after that.