THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS OF JAPAN

 

THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS OF JAPAN 

THEIR SEASON A PERIOD OF FESTIVITY AND POETRY 

No other flower in all the world is so beloved. so exalted. so worshiped as sa-kura-no-hana. the cherry blossom of Japan. It is not only the national flower, but the symbol of purity, the emblem of chivalry, and knightly honor ,the crest of a cult the vernal celebration, of which has been observed with unflagging zeal for at least two thousand years. 

 

It is Japan's own flower ,more omnipresent than the chrysanthemum and indigenous to the soil of the Yamato hillsides and to the heart of the home provinces, that surround Nara and Kioto. It did not come from China.

Except Fujiyama and the moon, no other object has been theme and inspiration of so many millions of Japanese poems, as the cherry blossom, and progress and modernity have not lessened its hold on the hearts of the whole people. All the emperors, the one hundred poets, and all other immortals have sung its praises, and in the trenches and dugouts, and on the battle plains of Manchuria, the soldiers made festival trees with bits of pink paper, or hailed a blooming crab apple tree as the nearest substitute for their home blossoms. Painters, decorators, designers, artists, and artisans of every degree and kind, have employed the flowers and buds more than those of any other tree. 

Forty cherry blossom crests are found in books of heraldry, and a cherry blossom superimposed on a chrysanthemum is the insignia of one of the princely houses. The young peers at the Nobles School wear a metal cherry blossom on their caps and collars, and in April, all the sweets and cakes and half the pretty things one eats are in the shape of the five petaled flower, or at least are ornamented with it.

References:

THE CENTURY MAGAZINE 1909