Pop Japan

If there’s one season that everyone is looking forward to in Japan, it’s the spring season, for it only means one thing: Cherry Blossoms!

After the death-freezing cold winter, there goes spring, where cherry blossoms or sakura will start to unfold. It is a common sight to many places in Japan including castles, temples, shrines and gardens. For Japan, it’s a special time as they have their yearly hanami, which is an old tradition of flower viewing. 

It may sound too much for a flower to have a celebration and such, but it really has to be. After all, sakura is Japan’s national flower and is a well-known symbol of Japanese culture. Here’s why:

As it starts to bloom in spring (late March to early April), it is a sign of a new beginning. While it doesn’t have a long life as the flowers fall out soon after blooming, it represents the impermanence and mortality of things, which they translated in a metaphor saying, “All things will eventually pass.” This saying was inculcated in the minds of the Japanese.

Sakura is widely renowned in literature, arts, food and clothing. There are a variety of poetry and painting of sakura today. There are lots of sakura-inspired food during the Sakura Season and some of the traditional kimonos have a sakura design on them. 

Not only that, the graduation rites is held in March while the entrance ceremony follows in April. During these ceremonies, songs about sakura are sung by the students. 

In 1912 and 1956, Japan sent 6,800 sakura trees to the United States as a gift, while the United States sent dogwood trees in Japan as a return to the kind gesture. 

Sakura still continues to share its blossom every year and is one of the exciting things to look forward to when spring in Japan begins. Truly, this flower is not just a flower. It is the spirit of the Land of the Rising Sun.