Blossoms that Charm Viewers Across Time and Borders

Overhead, pink blossoms grow thick enough to form a tunnel-like canopy. Just walking beneath these trees – as shafts of sunlight peek through – is enough to brighten your mood. Cherry blossoms, one of Japan’s national flowers, have enchanted people with their beauty for thousands of years. 

In ancient times, cherry blossom viewing was a ritual venerated in Shinto, a religion native to Japan. Back then, it was common for farmers to believe that numerous kami (animistic powers or spirits honored in the Shinto religion) inhabited, among other places, the paddies where they grew rice. These kami of the rice paddies would go up into the mountains during the cold winter season, and would return to the villages where the farmers lived when the weather warmed in spring. Every year when the cherry blossoms bloomed, the farmers would rejoice at the return of the kami of the rice paddies, and they would gather around cherry blossom trees to welcome and entertain these kami – as a way of praying for a good harvest and sound health in the coming year.

According to some, this is the origin of the custom of cherry blossom viewing. It was during the Nara period (710-794) that this transformed from ‘an event to entertain the kami of the rice paddies’ into ‘a custom of enjoying the beautifully blooming flowers.’ At the time, this custom was more commonly associated with viewing plum blossoms, which had been introduced from China, than with viewing the sacred cherry blossom trees, and aristocrats in power during that period left behind many poems praising their beauty.

In 894, during the early years of the Heian period (794-1185), Japan abolished its practice of sending diplomatic envoys to the Tang Dynasty in China. This led to a greater domestic influence of Japan’s existing national culture, valued by the people as their own, which in turn led to a greater affinity for Japan’s ancient cherry blossoms over the foreign plum blossoms. Both the famous novel The Tale of Genji, written in the mid-Heian period, and the early anthology of Japanese poetry known as Kokin Wakashu, compiled in the early Heian period, depict scenes of imperial court members holding banquets under cherry blossom trees.

Up until the Heian period, cherry blossom viewing had largely only been enjoyed among the aristocracy, but in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the custom began to spread throughout all social classes. During this period, samurai and townspeople also began to enjoy cherry blossoms, and in Kyoto, people began planting cherry blossom trees on the mountains, and within the grounds of temples and shrines. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the feudal lord who unified the country and brought an end to Japan’s warring states period, is known to have been a cherry blossom lover who held notable cherry blossom viewing events at Daigoji Temple and the Yoshino area. According to records, he had 700 cherry blossom trees planted at Daigoji Temple in Kyoto and held an event attended by more than 1,000 guests. In addition, he had 1,000 trees planted in Yoshino, located in Nara Prefecture, where he held a grand five-day banquet to which he invited 5,000 of the most distinguished military commanders at the time, including Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiie.

However, it was not until the Edo period (1600-1868) that cherry blossom viewing became popular among the general public as a purely seasonal pastime, as it is today. Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth shogun, established cherry blossom viewing spots throughout Edo (now known as Tokyo) for the enjoyment of the common people. At cherry blossom viewing parties held in these spots, people were permitted to enjoy themselves as equals regardless of social status, and the common people eagerly looked forward to these occasions, which further deepened their affinity for cherry blossoms.
 

In addition, breeding and improving cherry blossom trees became popular among gardening and landscaping professionals, resulting in the development of 250-300 varieties of trees. Along the way, cherry blossom trees developed into the spiritual foundation of the Japanese people. Unfortunately, however, upon entering the Meiji period (1868-1912), the fires of war began to spread throughout Japan.

This prolonged period of war took its toll on the country as gardens at samurai residences or those owned by aristocrats were demolished one after the other, and even the cherry blossom trees planted in these locations ended up being used as fuel. This situation greatly concerned a man named Takagi Magoemon, a professional gardener who specialized in trees. He collected the cherry blossom trees that he could find and preserved them in his home garden, where he eventually tended to more than 80 varieties. In 1886, when the banks of the Arakawa River in Tokyo were under repair, it was decided that rows of cherry blossom trees would be planted to reinforce the embankments. Upon learning this, Takagi Magoemon transplanted 3,000 of the cherry blossom trees he had collected, representing 78 different varieties. In modern times, these cherry blossom trees – preserved through the efforts of a single gardener – have spread throughout Japan and across the globe.

The blossoms can only be viewed for a short period of time in spring… It is said that the true beauty of cherry blossoms lies in the fact that they are only in bloom for a short time before scattering in an elegant shower of petals.

As the time approaches, once the buds start to swell, we begin to eagerly await full bloom, marking the progress of the buds each day over several weeks as they reach “one-third in bloom,” “half in bloom,” and eventually “three-quarters in bloom.” And once they finally reach full bloom, their beauty lasts only a passing moment. It is not uncommon to see the blossoms completely past their prime on the very next day due to a nighttime bought of wind or rain.

Even so, Japanese people have long associated the transient scattering of cherry blossoms with the splendor of life. Even the ancient poem Iroha, which significantly influenced the formation of the Japanese language, describes the impermanence of cherry blossoms in the passage “Iro wa nioedo, chirinuru wo,” which roughly translates as “even the blossoming flowers will eventually scatter.”

They bloom and then scatter. Even though they are fated to only bloom for such a short time, they will come into full bloom again with the arrival of spring next year. They remain as beautiful now as they have ever been. We hope that you will once again feel the arrival of spring as you gaze at this year’s cherry blossoms, with your hand out as if to gently catch upon your palm the petals that softly flutter down from the trees above.

※There are several theories on the origin of cherry blossom trees.

text：Natsuki Shinmoto（Chikara）
Photography：Kazuhiro Kaku
Project Direction：Chikara