Japanese Twitter gets excited about foreigner getting excited about cherry blossoms

10:45 cherishe 0 Comments

It seems putting on rose-tinted spectacles not only makes you feel nostalgic, it also makes the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms even better.

Every year cherry blossoms (known as sakura in Japanese) bloom all over Japan, and drinking and merrymaking in the park becomes officially sanctioned as ‘flower viewing’. What makes it particularly special is that the period is so short, with only a couple of days of full bloom and only about two or three weeks of flowering. You’d think that seeing the same old shade of pastel pink roughly the same time of year, year in, year out, would make Japanese people blasé. But no, most still get excited at the chance to throw down a tarpaulin and sit outside with a drink and a rice ball, although not as excited as one foreigner, who has become a hit again on Japanese social media.

Twitter user @mr_yabatan, whom you may recall getting all worked up about the lavatorial wizardry of washlets, Japan’s high-tech toilets, has turned his attention and child-like wonderment to flowers, and the colour pink. In this video though, fellow flower-viewing hanami partygoers get a dose of his trademark humour. While Mr. Yabatan speaks in Japanese, with a hilarious mix of fluency and stilted pronunciation, the English subtitles explain what he and the friendly people around him are on about, even if the phrase that seems to have become his catchphrase, “I am really surprised”, and its odd intonation loses something in the translation.

▼ They’re certainly “Pink! Pink! Pink!”, but are they kissably cute, or marriage material?

Whether his over-the-top antics make you guffaw or cringe at his reinforcing stereotypes of foreigners in Japan, the Norwegian comedian is certainly popular on Japanese social media, and if the video is anything to go by, has made some new friends in a park. Other Twitter users particularly complimented him on his Japanese, and his cute pink glasses and clothing ensemble.

“Your Japanese is great!”
“Those pink glasses are soooooo cute!”
“That looks so much fun, I can’t wait until next year.”
“Your ‘ra’ in ‘sakura’ sounds really French.”
“Foreigners like this really make me laugh.”
“I need some of those glasses.”
“Yabata-san’s videos are always hilarious.”
“Pink suits you!”

At least one commenter, however, told him not to touch the plant’s branches because damage could result in a lesser bloom next year. Although accidentally swallowing a petal or two hasn’t provoked the kind of ire saved for those who wear the branches as accessories.

One more thing that may astonish the easily surprised comedian is that if he does decide to go through with his stated wish and actually marry a cherry blossom tree, it wouldn’t even come close to being the weirdest marriage in Japan. Plus, he wouldn’t be the first person to enjoy some alone time with some sakura.

Source: Twitter/@mr_yabatan via Hachimakiko
Images: ©SoraNews24



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