Japan will donate 250 new cherry blossom trees to the United States, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at his welcome ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.
Some 3,700 cherry blossom trees at the Tidal Basin that were donated by the city of Tokyo in 1912 are a symbol of the friendship between Japan and the United States.
A senior U.S. official said that "the two most important gifts that countries have given the United States over the course of our existence: one would be the Statue of Liberty, and the second might be the gift, 110 years ago from Japan, of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin."
The U.S. National Park Service last month said that 158 of the cherry trees will be cut down to reconstruct a seawall around the Tidal Basin.
Kishida said, "When I heard that some of the trees would be replaced...I decided to send 250 new cherry trees to commemorate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States."
U.S. President Joe Biden said the new trees will be planted near the Martin Luther King Memorial. "Like our friendship, these trees are timeless, inspiring, and thriving," he stated.
