With the National Cherry Blossom Festival coming up this March 27th in the US, some people have yet to note the cultural significance of the festival in Japan.
Hanami, or a cherry blossom festival, is an important and long-standing custom in Japan, held across the country every spring. Literally translated as flower viewing, Hanami festivals are held at various times from March to May, with dates usually determined by blossom forecasts.
Practicing hanami is a centuries old tradition, with the Japanese believing in spirits (or gods, the Japanese believe is somewhat analogous) inside the trees, and making offerings to them. Thousands of people annually fill parks and public places to hold feasts under the newly flowering trees, often staying up late into the night.
Tokyo Mayor, Yukio Ozaki, gifted the Sakura blossom trees (cherry blossom trees) to the city of Washington on March 27, 1912, after numerous people had lobbied the city of Washington, DC, to plant cherry trees in the district and the Japan embassy learned that the city was going to purchase some.
The city of Tokyo donated 2000 cherry trees to the United States to be planted along the Potomac. The original trees were destroyed by the US after President Taft's administration discovered they were infested with insects and parasites, but Tokyo redoubled and sent back another 3000 trees from a famous lineage along the Arakawa River in Tokyo, Japan.
The Boston Globe points out that the cherry trees are nearly already in full bloom, due to an unseasonably warm early spring. Unlike Japan, the US festival is not calculated based on expected blooming times, though it it long enough that it usually includes them.
Cherry trees have become increasingly popular outside of Japan, with over 700,000 people expected to vist Washington alone to admire the blossoming cherry trees.
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