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The online magazine HIGHLIGHTING JAPAN

April 2021

THE JAPANESE AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS

INDEX

  • THEME FOR AprilTHE JAPANESE AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS

    Cherry trees and their blossoms have been admired by the Japanese since antiquity. More than a hundred cultivars have been bred from the ten wild cherry species to create blossoms of many hues that blanket Japan in the spring. Cherry blossoms have long been eulogized in literature and the arts. Confectionery and other foods are made in the flowers’ image and even using the trees’ leaves, while there is a unique handicraft that makes use of cherry tree bark. In this month’s issue of Highlighting JAPAN, we explore the Japanese love for cherry trees and their blossoms.

     

FEATURES

  • Sharing the Love for Cherry Blossoms

    An interview with Katsuki Toshio, a team leader at the Tama Forest Science Garden at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

  • A Cherry Tree as “Ancient as the Age of Mythology”

    The oldest among Japan’s cherry trees is considered to be the tree growing in the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Yamanashi Prefecture.

  • A Plant Hunter Who Controls the Blooming of the Cherry Blossoms

    Nishihata Seijun controls the flowering of cut cherry tree branches to satisfy lovers of cherry blossoms in Japan and overseas.

  • Cherry Blossoms Connecting Japan and the United States

    In 1912, Japan presented ornamental cherry trees to Washington, D.C., beginning the spread of a love of cherry blossoms in the United State

  • Cherry Blossoms Bring Spring Colors to Kyoto

    Kyoto is known for its picturesque scenery of many types of cherryblossoms, which bloom one after another for over a month.

  • Handicrafts Made with Cherry Tree Bark

    Kaba-zaiku, the craft of making things with the bark of cherry trees, is a folk craft particular to Kakunodate, Akita Prefecture.

  • Sakuramochi: A Spring Delicacy

    Sakuramochi is a confection which, just like the cherry blossoms after which the sweet is named, heralds the arrival of spring.

  • Cherry Blossoms in Ukiyo-e

    The cherry blossoms depicted in ukiyo-e woodblock prints reveal that the spring flowers have long charmed the people.

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