Sakura season has swept through the Kansai region with great fanfare and this year, thanks to the power of social media, the sakura bug seems to have also spread to all four corners of the earth. Social media platforms have been awash with images and videos of cherry blossoms to such an extent that it may have left some people wondering: Sakura - why the fascination?
The sakura, like so many other things, were introduced to Japan by China. It is believed that the ancestor of sakura was native to the Himalayas before being cultivated for ornamental use. Sakura trees, Japan’s tradition of hanami, flower viewing and picnicking, and another variety of flowering trees called ume, plum blossoms, came from China during the Nara period (710-794). The Chinese custom favored the ume for flower viewing and Japan adopted that practice. A century later during the Heian period (794-1192), Emperor Nimmyo, who preferred the sakura to the ume, had the ume trees of Heian Palace’s garden (in present day Kyoto) replaced with sakura trees. All further hanami events held by the Imperial court were conducted around the sakura and the rest of Japan’s wealthy elite followed suit. In April of 1598, just 4 months before his death, the great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi donated upward of 700 sakura trees and other plants to Daigoji Temple, in present day Kyoto, and held what became known as the Daigo no Hanami. At the time it was the largest hanami ever with upward of 1300 people in attendance. The influence of the Daigo no Hanami and a push for beautification during the peaceful 265 year Edo period (1603-1868) spread the practice of hanami to the general population. The government funded the planting of thousands of sakura trees and other flowering plants along rivers and in public spaces throughout Japan and encouraged people to gather and feast under them. New varieties of sakura were also cultivated throughout this time. The Somei Yoshino sakura, today’s most commonly grown variety, was cultivated at the end of the Edo-period and proliferated across Japan, and the rest of the world, from the Meiji Period (1868-1912) onward.
In addition to creating an opportunity to enjoy warm spring weather, food and the company of friends, family and coworkers, the blooming of the sakura signals farmers that planting season has begun, and encourages people to reflect and observe mono no aware, the transience of all things. The sakura only last about a week or two. Their arrival and their passing is a visible representation of time, life and the understanding that all things are impermanent. Take your time enjoying the flowers because this moment, like all your troubles and your joys, will one day be carried away like a flower petal in the wind.
Look at the cherry blossoms! Their color and scent fall with them, Are gone forever, Yet mindless The spring comes again.
Ikkyu