LIFE

Sakura: Soul of Japan

Through the ages, cherry trees in blossom have inspired parties and poetry

Overwhelming: Named 'Taki-zakura' ('Waterfall Cherry'), this more than 1,000-year-old benishidarezakura (weeping higan cherry; Prunus subhirtella var. pendula) at Miharu, Fukushima Prefecture, is a designated national treasure that stands 12 meters high, spreads more than 22 meters across and attracts 300,000 visitors a year. | ANDREW KERSHAW PHOTOS

By Michael Hoffman
Special To The Japan Times

Mar 25, 2012

"If I were asked to explain the Japanese spirit, I would say it is wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun!"
— Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), nativist thinker and poet

The cherry blossom is not just another pretty flower. Pause to consider, as you feast, drink and carol beneath the blushing petals this season, how ancient a rite of spring your frolics are perpetuating.

Not infinitely ancient — the Nara Period (710-784), being Chinese in orientation, imitated China in preferring the darker, more fragrant and more assertive plum blooming a few weeks earlier on similarly leafless branches.

Sakura: Soul of Japan

Through the ages, cherry trees in blossom have inspired parties and poetry

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