As winter recedes, signs of spring are beginning to appear across rural and city landscapes. Of all of the flowers and foliage to resurface after months of cold weather, none is more anticipated than cherry blossoms. From Tokyo to Washington DC, their arrival is rightly celebrated as one of the most beautiful gifts of nature..
Aside from being a common object of aesthetic appreciation, the history of cherry blossoms in both Japan and the United States represents a tale of hope, tragedy and redemption over the tumultuous 20th century.
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Cherry blossoms have been a core component of the Japanese identity for more than twelve centuries. Since initially gracing the ancient capital of Kyoto in 794, generations of Japanese have marked germinal by gathering under the pink flowers with friends and colleagues. Visiting sakura ('cherry blossoms' in Japanese) at night for conversation and a glass of rice wine (sake) is also traditional. In Japanese, this is known as hanami or 'night viewing'. Seven years after shocking Europe by militarily defeating Russia in 1905, Japan, which had been self-isolated from the world until the mid-19th century, began looking westward and decided to make a generous overture to another rising nation across the Pacific Ocean. Henceforward, the United States and Japan would have a shared identity through sakura as both allies and adversaries.
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Yukio Ozaki, the Mayor of Tokyo, presented President William Howard Taft with 3,000 cherry blossom trees as a symbol of friendship between the two countries in 1912. In the immediate years after Taft's wife, Helen, and the wife of the Japanese ambassador participated in the ceremonial planting, US-Japan relations steadily expanded. By the end of the Great War (1914-18), Japan had become a significant power on the world stage and earned and invitation to the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22. In exchange for signing a treaty to limit the size and scope of their navy, the Japanese expected to have their interests in Mongolia and Manchuria (modern day southern Russia and Northern China) formerly recognized. When the Conference adjourned without granting Japan a sphere of influence over East Asia, the fires of nationalism were stoked with resentment from Osaka to Yokohama.
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As the 'Roaring Twenties' ushered in nearly a decade of unprecedented prosperity in both Europe and the United States, militarism in Japan increased. Some right-wing elements sought to replace the constitutional government with a dictatorship under the aegis of the Emperor. One particular nationalist organization, called the 'Cherry Blossom Society', attempted a coup d'etat on 17 March 1930. Its leader, Lieutenant Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto, plotted to manufacture a riot near the Diet (Japanese parliament) building in order to justify a period of martial law. During martial law, Hashimoto planned to launch a totalitarian state by dissolving the government and installing General Kazuhige Ugaki to power. Ultimately, the coup failed. Eight months to the day later (17 November), Hashimoto tried and failed again. Although unsuccessful, the inability of the Japanese government to either quash or punish the conspirators revealed its internal weakness. It was equally incapable of controlling foreign policy as well. During those precarious months, a significant segment of its armed forces, the 'Kwantung Army', simply ignored repeated orders from Tokyo to cease provocations in Manchuria. Unable to rein in its own military, constitutional government in Japan was eroding quickly by the time of the first National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC in 1935.
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From 1941 to 1945, militarist Japanese armies mercilessly attacked China, Korea and the United States. In an era of twisted ideology and jingoism, suicide pilots or kamikazes painted cherry blossoms on the sides of their planes to symbolize Japanese racial superiority and might. Fortunately, the days of Imperial Japan were relatively short-lived in history. Two decades after suffering through dual atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the acceptance of 3,800 additional cherry blossom trees by First Lady 'Lady Bird' Johnson from democratic Japan signified a new era of peace and prosperity between the two countries.
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Today, Japan and the United States are working together to ensure security in East Asia, reduce the threat of global warming and enhance trade. After overcoming years of military and economic rivalry, the two nations stand on the verge of a new century of peace.
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In the arrival of cherry blossoms, hope and redemption truly spring eternal.
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(Photo: a night view of cherry blossoms in Japan - click to enlarge)
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J Roquen