SAKURA

There is no doubt that the change of seasons – from summer to winter, from winter to summer – are both eagerly awaited by everyone. Some people prefer the crispness, the new chill in the air, and, of course, the warm colors of fall.  This year the spring has sprung early and with a vengeance, and I’m already into sandals and cropped pants. I love the spring. The lacy, pastel colors run riot on the dogwoods, the redbuds, Bradford pears, apples, plums, and, of course, the cloud of blossoms on cherry trees. There’s new warmth in the air and grass is greening.



It’s no wonder that in the spring a tourist’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC.  This year will mark the 100^th Anniversary of the first planting of the cherry trees.  On March 27, 1912, Helen Taft, the president’s wife, and Vicountess Chinda, the wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two of the over three thousand trees that would surround the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. The cuttings they planted were scions from the famous trees that grow in Tokyo along the banks of the Arakawa River. 



Peter Max's poster for this year's festival



Over the years there has been a reciprocal replenishment of the cherry trees.  After World War II, cuttings were taken from the Washington trees to replace those destroyed by Allied bombs in Tokyo. Later, Tokyo sent cuttings back to replace some of the trees that had died in Washington; then Washington sent cuttings to replace trees lost in a flood.  Today the cherry trees flourish all over Washington.

In 1915, the United States sent scions of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan, and there was a reenactment of the 1912 events. This became the beginnings of the Cherry Blossom Festival, though it wasn’t ‘official’ until 1935. The festival was suspended during the war, but resumed in 1947.  Today the festival is held over a two week period, with hundreds of thousands of tourists in attendance.  Mother Nature and the festival organizers don’t always work hand-in-hand.  In some years the trees blossom earlier or later than the planned festival dates. Peak blossom performance, however, has almost become secondary to the cultural: exhibits, music and dance, fashion shows, and food fests; the sporting: a kite flying fest, bike races and a ten-mile run; and the ceremonial events: the crowning of a festival queen, a parade, and lots of fireworks.

Cherry Blossom Festival fireworks in
Hamburg, Germany

Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom.*  The word is known at Cherry Blossom Festivals all over the world, from Brooklyn to Hamburg, to Tokyo, of course.  Be on the lookout for a festival during your spring travels.



A tree grows in Brooklyn -
Of course - it's a cherry!



*My favorite version of the Japanese folk song, Sakura – actually, the first version I ever heard, so no wonder – is this one by Harry Belafonte.