Edible Flowers

Cherry blossoms aren't only for viewing, I just learned. I joined a chef to buy yaezakura from a local florist, a variety of sakura that's edible. He uses the petals of this flower to give his dishes a gorgeous pink flourish, and adds a bit of sakura no shiozuke (scroll down), salt-picked cherry blossoms, to accent vegetables steeping in dashi. Other edible flowers I've seen here in Tokyo: shiso, sansho and chive.