[Cherry Blossom Talk]

This year's cherry blossom bloom forecast is said to be on par with or slightly earlier than normal. Spring and cherry blossoms will soon be here. We can hardly wait for them.

Cherry blossoms show us various expressions from the time they bloom to the time they fall. Seeing cherry blossoms in full bloom reminds me of “Under the Cherry Trees” by Motojiro Kajii. The beginning of the novel says, “Under the cherry tree, a corpse is buried!” and it makes me feel a bit scared. Cherry blossoms seem a little scary to me, but that may be because all literature about cherry blossoms is fantastic and has an eerie atmosphere.

The beauty of cherry blossoms lies in their transience. Until the Edo period (1603-1867), the image of falling cherry blossoms was not very favorable because it was associated with death and the end of things. It was also thought to signify a “change of heart” because the petals would quickly change from a light peach color to an earthy color. Therefore, cherry blossoms were considered to be a bad omen. It is said that it is bad luck to plant cherry trees in the garden. Because of the negative image of cherry blossoms as “things that fall” and the fact that the blossoms fall quickly, it is believed that planting cherry trees in a house will make it obsolete instead of prosperous.

Nevertheless, cherry blossoms are not only beautiful flowers, but also have a special meaning to Japanese people culturally, religiously, and politically, because of their transient nature, which is associated with the Buddhist view of impermanence. Cherry blossoms have become a symbol of “graciousness” that does not cling to this life, and the words “花は桜木、人は武士” (the best blossom is the cherry blossom; the best man is the warrior) were coined about the way of life of the samurai who sacrificed their lives for the sake of righteousness. It is also depicted on kimonos, letterheads, set items, postage stamps, coins, etc., and has become a representative motif of tattoos.

The Somei-Yoshino cherry tree, which is now a representative of Japan, is said to be a hybrid of the Oshima cherry tree and the Edohigan horticultural species. It is dark red in the bud stage, including the sepal, but turns light red at the beginning of blooming and almost white when in full bloom. It is characterized by inheriting both the Edohigan's “tendency to bloom before the leaves” and the Oshima cherry's “large, well-formed flower shape.”

There is a poem about cherry blossoms written by Ariwara no Narihira in the Kokin Wakashu (Anthology of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry): “世の中にたえて桜のなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし” (If there were no cherry blossoms in the world at all, how tranquil the heart of spring would be!)

Spring is naturally a peaceful season, yet people eagerly await the cherry blossoms, and once they bloom, they become restless, concerned about their inevitable scattering. It seems that we, too, in our present time, welcome spring while our hearts are still stirred by the cherry blossoms.

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References
https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1303578/1/1
https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000074/files/427_19793.html
https://samidare.jp/yoshiaki/note.php
https://beauty.biglobe.ne.jp/news/lifestyle/anan_180327_6357591624/
https://www.hibiyakadan.com/item/LIFESTYLE_Z_0110.html
https://manapedia.jp/text/2086