Prunus speciosa in the Jardin des Plantes 002

A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally refer to ornamental cherry trees, not to be confused with cherry trees that produce fruit for eating.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.14–18

Iwanami Shoten is a Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo.Louis Frédéric, ''Japan Encyclopedia'', Harvard University Press, 2005, p. 409. Iwanami Shoten was founded in 1913 by Iwanami Shigeo. Its first major publication was Natsume Sōseki's novel '' ...

. It is considered the national flower of Japan. Wild

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of the cherry tree is widely distributed mainly in the Northern hemisphere. In the mainstream classification in Europe and North America, cherry trees for ornamental purposes are classified into the genus ''Prunus'' which consists of about 400 species. In the mainstream classification in Japan, China, and Russia, on the other hand, ornamental cherry trees are classified into the genus ''Cerasus'', which consists of about 100 species separated from the genus ''Prunus'', and the genus ''Cerasus'' does not include ''

Prunus salicina ''Prunus salicina'' ( syn. ''Prunus triflora'' or ''Prunus thibetica''), commonly called the Japanese plum or Chinese plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China. It is now also grown in fruit orchards in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Israel, the U ...

'', '' Prunus persica (Peach)'', ''

Prunus mume ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

'', '' Prunus grayana'', amongst others. In Europe and North America, however, there were not many wild cherry trees with many large flowers suitable for cherry blossom viewing. Many of them were different from the typical cherry tree shapes and flowers for cherry blossom viewing that people today imagine.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. p.122

. In mainland China, there has been a culture of viewing plum blossoms since ancient times, and there were many wild species of cherry blossoms, but many of them had small flowers, and the distribution area of wild species of cherry blossoms, which bore large flowers suitable for hanami, was often limited to a small area away from people's living areas.Toshio Katsuki. (2018) ''Sakura no Kagaku (Science of Cherry Blossoms)''. pp.160–161 SB Creative. On the other hand, in Japan, ''Prunus speciosa'' (Oshima cherry) and ''Prunus jamasakura'' (Yamazakura), which bloom large flowers suitable for cherry blossom viewing and tend to become large trees, were distributed in a fairly wide area of the country and close to people's living areas. Therefore, it is considered that the culture of viewing cherry blossoms and the production of cultivars have developed historically in Japan. Many of the cherry trees currently enjoyed for cherry blossom viewing are not wild

but

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

. Because cherry trees have a mutable trait, many cultivars have been created for cherry blossom viewing, especially in Japan. Since the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, the Japanese have produced many cultivars by selecting superior or mutant individuals that were born from natural crossings of wild cherry trees, or by crossing them artificially, and then breeding them by grafting and

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

. Oshima cherry, Yamazakura, ''Prunus pendula'' f.''ascendens'' (syn, ''Prunus itosakura'', Edo higan), and so on, which grow naturally in Japan, are easy to mutate, and especially Oshima cherry, which is an

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

in Japan, tend to mutate into

double-flowered "Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation ''fl. pl.'' (''flore pleno'', a Latin ablat ...

, grow fast, have many large flowers, and have a strong fragrance; therefore, Oshima cherry has produced much sakura called Sato-zakura Group as a base of cultivars because of its favorable characteristics. The representative cultivars whose parent species is the Oshima cherry are Yoshino cherry and Kanzan; Yoshino cherries are actively planted in Asian countries, and Kanzan is actively planted in Western countries.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.86–95 p.106 pp.166–168

. Toshio Katsuki. (2018) ''Sakura no Kagaku (Science of Cherry Blossoms)''. pp.40–42 SB Creative. In

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century,

Collingwood Ingram Collingwood "Cherry" Ingram (30 October 1880 – 19 May 1981), was a British ornithologist, plant collector and gardener, who was an authority on Japanese flowering cherries. Personal life Collingwood Ingram was a son of Sir William Ingram and M ...

, an Englishman, collected and studied Japanese cherry blossoms, and created various ornamental cultivars, and the culture of cherry blossom viewing began to be spread. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, cherry blossom viewing began to spread after Japan presented cherry blossoms as a token of friendship in 1912.

Classification

The botanical classification of cherry blossoms varies from period to period and from country to country. As of the 21st century, in the mainstream classification in Europe and North America, cherry trees for ornamental purposes are classified into the genus ''Prunus'' which consists of about 400 species. In the mainstream classification in Japan, China, and Russia, on the other hand, ornamental cherry trees are classified into the genus ''Cerasus'', which consists of about 100 species separated from the genus ''Prunus'', and the genus ''Cerasus'' does not include ''

'', '' Prunus persica (Peach)'', ''

'', '' Prunus grayana'', etc. In Japan, the genus ''Prunus'' was the mainstream as in Europe and America until around 1992, but it was reclassified into the genus ''Cerasus'' to more accurately reflect the latest botanical situation of cherry blossoms. However, it is often classified into the genus ''Prunus'' for presentation in English-speaking countries. In general, cherry blossom () refers only to some of these about 100 species and the cultivars produced from them, and it does not refer to which are similar to sakura. In addition, since cherry trees are relatively prone to mutation and have a variety of flowers and trees, there are many varieties, such as

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

which is a sub-classification of species, hybrids between species, and cultivar. For this reason, many researchers have named different scientific names for a particular type of cherry tree in different periods, and there is confusion in the classification of cherry trees.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.32–37

Time of flowering

Many wild species and cultivars bloom from March to April in the Northern Hemisphere. Wild species, even if they are the same species, are genetically different from one tree to another, so even if they are planted in the same place, there is some variation in the time when they reach full bloom. On the other hand, because cultivars tend to be planted for cherry blossom viewing, which is a clone propagated by grafting or cutting, is genetically uniform, each tree of the same cultivar planted in the same place is in full bloom and scattered all at once. In addition, some wild species such as Edo higan and the cultivars developed from them are in full bloom before the leaves open, giving a showy impression to the people who enjoy them. Yoshino cherry became popular as a cherry tree for cherry-blossom viewing because, in addition to these characteristics of simultaneous flowering and the fact that the flowers are in full bloom before the leaves open, it bears a large number of flowers and grows quickly to become a big tree. Many cultivars of Sato-zakura group, which were born from complex interspecific hybrids based on Oshima cherry, are often used for ornamental purposes and generally reach full bloom a few days after to two weeks after Yoshino cherry reaches full bloom.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.40–56

. The flowering time of cherry trees is thought to be affected by global warming and the heat island effect of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

. According to the record of full bloom dates of Yamazakura (''Prunus jamasakura'') in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, Japan, which was recorded for about 1200 years, the time of full bloom was relatively stable from 812 to 1800s, but after that, the time of full bloom rapidly became earlier and in 2021, the earliest full bloom date in 1200 years was recorded. The average peak day in the 1850s was around April 17, but in the 2020s it was April 5, during which time the average temperature rose by about 6 degrees (3.4 Celsius). According to the record of full bloom dates of Yoshino cherry in the Tidal Basin in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, around 1921 it was April 5, but around 2021 it was March 31. These records are consistent with the record of rapid increases in global mean temperature since the mid-1800s.

Flower viewing in Japan

is the centuries-old practice of drinking under a blooming ( or ; or ) or tree. The custom is said to have started during the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

(710–794), when it was blossoms that people admired in the beginning, but by the Heian period (794–1185), cherry blossoms had come to attract more attention, and was synonymous with . From then on, in both and

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

, meant "cherry blossoms". The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

society and, by the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

, to the common people as well.

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimu ...

planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the trees, people had lunch and drank in cheerful feasts.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.2–7 pp.156–160

. Since a book written in the Heian period mentions , one of the cultivars with pendulous branches, it is considered that ''Prunus itosakura'' 'Pendula' (Sidare-zakura) is the oldest cultivar in Japan. In the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, when the population increased in the southern

Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain * Kantō region * Kantō-kai, organized crime group * Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in th ...

, the Oshima cherry, which originated in Izu Oshima Island, was brought to

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island se ...

and cultivated there, and then brought to the capital,

. In the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, the Sato-zakura Group which was born from complex interspecific hybrids based on

Oshima cherry ''Prunus speciosa'', the Oshima cherry, Japanese オオシマザクラ (Oshima zakura), is native to Izu Ōshima island and the Izu Peninsula on Honshū near Tokyo, Japan.Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8t ...

, began to appear. Hokuto Yamanashi Yamatakajindaizakura 1

''Prunus itosakura'' (syn. ''Prunus subhirtella'', Edo higan), a wild species, grows slowly, but has the longest life span among cherry trees and is easy to grow into large trees. For this reason, there are many large and long-lived trees of this species in Japan, and their cherry trees are often regarded as sacred and have become a landmark that symbolizes

Shinto shrines A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

, Buddhist temples, and local areas. For example, '' Jindai-zakura'' that is around 2,000 years old, '' Usuzumi-zakura'' that is around 1,500 years old, and '' Daigo-zakura'' that is around 1,000 years old are famous.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.178–182.

. In the Edo period, various

cultivars were produced and planted on the banks of rivers, in Buddhist temples, in Shinto shrines, and in daimyo gardens in urban areas such as Edo, and the common people living in urban areas could enjoy them. Books from that period recorded more than 200 varieties of cherry blossoms and mentioned many varieties of cherry blossoms which are currently known, such as 'Kanzan'. However, the situation was limited to urban areas, and the main objects of hanami across the country were wild species such as ''Prunus jamasakura'' (Yamazakura) and Oshima cherry, which were widely distributed in the country. Cherry blossom appearance

Since the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

when Japan was modernized, Yoshino cherry has spread throughout Japan, and the object of hanami for Japanese people has changed to Yoshino cherry. On the other hand, various cultivars other than Yoshino cherry were cut down one after another due to the rapid modernization of cities, such as reclamation of waterways and demolition of daimyo gardens. The gardener Takagi Magoemon and the village mayor of Kohoku Village Shimizu Kengo worried about this situation and saved them from the danger of extinction by making a row of cherry trees composed of various cultivars on the

Arakawa River or Ara River may refer to: * Arakawa River (Kanto) or Ara River may refer to: * Arakawa River (Kanto), which flows from Saitama Prefecture and through Tokyo to Tokyo Bay * Arakawa River (Uetsu), which flows from Yamagata Prefecture and throu ...

bank. In Kyoto, Sano Toemon XIV, a gardener, collected various cultivars and propagated them. After World War II, these cultivars were inherited by the

National Institute of Genetics The National Institute of Genetics ("Japanese Institute of Genetics") is a Japanese institution founded in 1949. It hosts the DNA Data Bank of Japan The DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) is a biological database that collects DNA sequences. It i ...

, Tama Forest Science Garden, and the Flower Association of Japan, and from the 1960s onwards various cultivars were again used for hanami.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.115–119

. Every year the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the as it moves northward up the archipelago with the approach of warmer weather via nightly forecasts following the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in January, and typically reaches

and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. It proceeds into areas at the higher altitudes and northward, arriving in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts and turn out in large numbers at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to hold flower-viewing parties. festivals celebrate the beauty of the cherry blossom and for many are a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. The custom of dates back many centuries in Japan. The 8th century chronicle records festivals being held as early as the 3rd century AD. Most Japanese schools and public buildings have cherry blossom trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, in many parts of

, the first day of work or school coincides with the cherry blossom season. However, while most cherry blossom trees bloom in spring, there are also lesser known winter cherry blossoms (''fuyuzakura'' in Japanese) that bloom between October and December. This allows for people to see both cherry blossoms and fall leaves in bloom at the same time. The Japan Cherry Blossom Association developed a list of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots () with at least one location in every prefecture.

Symbolism in Japan

In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming ', besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life,Choy Lee, Khoon. ''Japan—between Myth and Reality''. 1995, page 142. an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

influence, and which is embodied in the concept of ''

mono no aware , literally "the pathos of things", and also translated as "an empathy toward things", or "a sensitivity to ephemera", is a Japanese idiom for the awareness of , or transience of things, and both a transient gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at th ...

''.Slaymaker, Douglas. ''The Body in Postwar Japanese Fiction''. 2004, page 122. The association of the cherry blossom with ''mono no aware'' dates back to 18th-century scholar

Motoori Norinaga was a Japanese scholar of ''Kokugaku'' active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies. Life Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka in Ise Province (now part of Mie ...

. The transience of the blossoms, the exquisite beauty, and volatility, has often been associated with mortality and graceful and readily acceptance of destiny and karma; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga,

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. There is at least one popular folk song, originally meant for the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), titled " Sakura", and several

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

. The flower is also represented in all manner of consumer goods in Japan, including

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

, stationery, and dishware. The ''

Sakurakai was an ultranationalist secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army in September 1930, with the goal of reorganizing the state along totalitarian militaristic lines, via a military coup d'état if necessary. The ...

'' or Cherry Blossom Society was the name chosen by young officers within the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

in September 1930 for their secret society established to reorganize the state along

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

militarist Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mil ...

ic lines, via a military coup d'état if necessary. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the cherry blossom was used to motivate the Japanese people, to stoke nationalism and militarism among the populace. Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. ''Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms''. 2002, page 9-10. Even before the war, they were used in propaganda to inspire the "Japanese spirit", as in the "Song of Young Japan", exulting in "warriors" who were "ready like the myriad cherry blossoms to scatter". In 1932,

Akiko Yosano Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , seiji: ; 7 December 1878 – 29 May 1942) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of ...

's poetry urged Japanese soldiers to endure sufferings in China and compared the dead soldiers to cherry blossoms. Arguments that the plans for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, involving all Japanese ships, would expose Japan to danger if they failed, were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to "bloom as flowers of death". The last message of the forces on

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. H ...

was "Sakura, Sakura" — cherry blossoms. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before embarking on a suicide mission, or even take branches of the trees with them on their missions. A cherry blossom painted on the side of the bomber symbolized the intensity and ephemerality of life; in this way, the aesthetic association was altered such that falling cherry petals came to represent the sacrifice of youth in suicide missions to honor the emperor.

Ivan Morris Ivan Ira Esme Morris (29 November 1925 – 19 July 1976) was an English writer, translator and editor in the field of Japanese studies. Biography Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage to Edita Morris () and I ...

, ''The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan'', p290 Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975 The first

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

unit had a subunit called ''Yamazakura'' or wild cherry blossom. The government even encouraged the people to believe that the souls of downed warriors were reincarnated in the blossoms. Cherry blossoms are a prevalent symbol in

Irezumi (also spelled or sometimes ) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, inc ...

, the traditional art of Japanese tattoos. In tattoo art, cherry blossoms are often combined with other classic Japanese symbols like

koi fish or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' kep ...

dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

. It was later used for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics mascot Someity. It is also a common 'season' that signals the start of spring in the ''

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. The series was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. In ''Animal Crossing'', the player character is a human who lives in a village inhab ...

'' series of video games, where all of the game's leafy trees bloom with cherry blossoms.

Cultivars

Japan has a wide variety of cherry blossoms (''sakura''); well over 200

s can be found there. According to another classification method, it is thought that there are more than 600 cultivars in Japan. According to the results of DNA analysis of 215 cultivars carried out by Japan's Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in 2014, many of the cultivars of cherry trees that have spread around the world are interspecific hybrids that were produced by crossing

and ''Prunusu jamasakura'' (Yamazakura) with various wild species. Among these cultivars, the Sato-zakura Group, and many cultivars have a large number of petals, and the representative cultivar is ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Kanzan'.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. p137

. The following species, hybrids, and

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

are used for ''sakura'' cultivars: * ''

Prunus apetala ''Prunus apetala'' is a species of flowering cherry in the genus ''Prunus'' in the family Rosaceae. It is called clove cherry ( ja, チョウジザクラ ) because of its clovebud-shaped calyx. It is native to Japan, centered on the main islan ...

'' * ''

Prunus campanulata ''Prunus campanulata'' is a species of cherry native to Japan, Taiwan, southern and eastern China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, Fujian, and Zhejiang), and Vietnam. It is a large shrub or small tree, growing tall. It is widely grown as an ...

'' * '' Prunus × furuseana'' (''P. incisa'' × ''P. jamasakura''Toshio Katsuki (2017)
''Classification and morphological identification of cherry trees'' (サクラの分類と形態による同定). pp.96-97
/ref>) * '' Prunus × incam'' (''P. incisa'' × ''P. campanulata'') * ''

Prunus incisa ''Prunus incisa'', the Fuji cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, which gets its scientific name from the deep incisions on the leaves. It is an endemic species in Japan and grows wild in Kantō, Chūbu and Kinki re ...

'' var. ''incisa'' * ''Prunus incisa'' var. ''kinkiensis'' * ''

Prunus × introrsa ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, Cherry, cherries, peaches, Peach#Nectarine, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of Sou ...

'' * ''

Prunus itosakura ''Prunus itosakura'', ''Prunus subhirtella'' or ''Edo higan'', is the scientific name for one of the wild species of cherry trees native to Japan,

'' (''Prunus subhirtella'', ''Prunus pendula'') * ''

Prunus jamasakura ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows naturally in Japan, China, and Korea, and it also refers to a cultivar produced from ''Prunus speciosa'' (Oshima cherry), a cherry tree endemic in Japan.Toshio Kat ...

'' * '' Prunus × kanzakura'' (''P. campanulata'' × ''P. jamasakura'' and ''P. campanulata'' × ''P. speciosa'') * ''

Prunus leveilleana ''Prunus leveilleana'' is a native of Korea and Japan. It generally has autumnal leaves of reddish-brown or crimson red colour. It has flowers of bright yellow-white colors. Biochemistry In this species various new flavonoid compounds have been ...

'' (''Prunus verecunda'') * '' Prunus × miyoshii'' * '' Prunus nipponica'' * '' Prunus padus'' * '' Prunus × parvifolia'' (''P. incisa'' × ''P. speciosa'') * '' Prunus pseudocerasus'' * ''

Prunus × sacra ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the ...

'' (''P. itosakura'' × ''P. jamasakura'') * ''

Prunus sargentii ''Prunus sargentii'', commonly known as Sargent's cherry or North Japanese hill cherry, is a species of cherry native to Japan, Korea, and Sakhalin (Russia). The tree was named for Charles Sprague Sargent. Description ''Prunus sargentii'' is ...

'' * '' Prunus serrulata var. lannesiana, Prunus lannesiana'' (''Prunus'' Sato-zakura group. Complex interspecific hybrids based on ''Prunus speciosa''.) * '' Prunus × sieboldii'' * ''

Prunus speciosa ''Prunus speciosa'', the Oshima cherry, Japanese オオシマザクラ (Oshima zakura), is native to Izu Ōshima island and the Izu Peninsula on Honshū near Tokyo, Japan.Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed. ...

'' * ''

Prunus × subhirtella ''Prunus'' × ''subhirtella'', the winter-flowering cherry, spring cherry, or rosebud cherry, is the scientific name for the hybrid between ''Prunus itosakura'' and ''Prunus incisa''.

'' (''P. incisa'' × ''P. itosakura'') * '' Prunus × syodoi'' * '' Prunus × tajimensis'' * '' Prunus × takenakae'' * '' Prunus × yedoensis'' (''P. itosakura'' × ''P. speciosa'') Yoshino Sakura Tidal Basin DC

The most popular variety of cherry blossoms in Japan is the '' Somei Yoshino (Yoshino cherry)''. Its flowers are nearly pure white, tinged with the palest pink, especially near the stem. They bloom and usually fall within a week before the leaves come out. Therefore, the trees look nearly white from top to bottom. The variety takes its name from the village of Somei (now part of

Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku ...

in Tokyo). It was developed in the mid to late-19th century at the end of the

and the beginning of the

. The ''Somei Yoshino'' is so widely associated with cherry blossoms that ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

'' and other works of fiction often depict the variety in the

or earlier; such depictions are anachronisms.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.40–45

''Prunus'' × ''kanzakura'' 'Kawazu-zakura' is a representative cultivar that blooms before the arrival of spring. It is a natural hybrid between Oshima cherry and ''Prunus campanulata'', and is characterized by deep pink petals. Wild cherry trees usually do not bloom in cold seasons because they cannot produce offspring if they bloom before spring when the pollinating insects begin to move. However, it is considered that 'Kawazu-zakura' bloomed earlier because ''Prunus campanulata'' from

, which did not originally grow naturally in

, crossed with Oshima cherry. In wild species, flowering before spring is a disadvantageous feature of selection, but in cultivars such as 'Kawazu-zakura', early flowering and flower characteristics are preferred and they are propagated by grafting.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.98–100

. Cherry blossoms are basically classified by species and cultivars, but in Japan they are often classified by specific names based on the characteristics of the flowers and trees. Cherry trees with more petals than ordinary cherry trees with five petals are classified as ''yae-zakura'' (

sakura), and those with drooping branches are classified as ''shidare-zakura'', or weeping cherry. Most ''yae-zakura'' and ''shidare-zakura'' are cultivars. Famous cultivars of ''shidare-zakura'' are ' Shidare-zakura', ' Beni-shidare' and ' Yae-beni-shidare', all derived from the wild species '' Prunus itosakura (syn, ''Prunus subhirtella'' or Edo higan)''.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.86–87

. The color of cherry blossoms in general has a gradation between white and red, but there are cultivars with unusual colors such as yellow and green. The representative cultivars are ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Grandiflora' A. Wagner (Ukon) and ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Gioiko' Koidz (Gyoiko) developed in the Edo period of Japan.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.86–95 p.104

. In 2007, Riken produced a new cultivar named 'Nishina zao' by irradiating cherry trees with a heavy-ion beam for the first time in the world. This cultivar is produced from the ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Gioiko' (Gyoiko) with green petals, and is characterized by its pale yellow-green-white flowers when it blooms and pale yellow-pink flowers when they fall. Riken produced 'Nishina otome', 'Nishina haruka', and 'Nishina komachi' in the same way. All wild

of cherry blossom trees produce small, unpalatable fruit or edible cherries. Edible cherries generally come from cultivars of the related species ''

Prunus avium ''Prunus avium'', commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, gean, or bird cherryWorld Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, ...

'' and ''

Prunus cerasus ''Prunus cerasus'' (sour cherry, tart cherry, or dwarf cherry) is a species of ''Prunus'' in the subgenus '' Cerasus'' (cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the sweet cherry (''Prunus avium''), but ha ...

''. However, in some cultivars, the pistil changes like a leaf and loses its fertility, and for example, ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Hisakura' (Ichiyo) and ''Prunus serrulata'' 'Albo-rosea' Makino (Fugenzo), which originated from Oshima cherry, can only be propagated by artificial methods such as grafting and cutting.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura'' p.107

By country and region

Australia

During

, a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

(POW) camp near the town of

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

in New South Wales, Australia, was the site of one of the largest

prison escape A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture th ...

s of the war, on 5 August 1944. During the

Cowra breakout The Cowra breakout occurred on 5 August 1944, when 1,104 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape from a prisoner of war camp near Cowra, in New South Wales, Australia. It was the largest prison escape of World War II, as well as one o ...

and subsequent rounding up of POWs, four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese soldiers died and 108 prisoners were wounded. The Japanese War Cemetery holding the dead from the Breakout was tended after the war by members of the Cowra RSL and ceded to Japan in 1963. In 1971 the Cowra Tourism Development decided to celebrate this link to Japan and proposed a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

for the town. The Japanese government agreed to support this development as a sign of thanks for the respectful treatment of their war dead; the development also received funding from the Australian government and private entities. The garden was designed by Ken Nakajima (1914–2000), a world-renowned designer of Japanese gardens at the time. The first stage was opened in 1979, and the second stage in 1986. The gardens were designed in the style of the

and are a ''kaiyū-shiki'' or strolling garden. They are designed to show all of the landscape types of Japan. At five hectares (12 acres), the Cowra Japanese Garden is the largest Japanese garden in the Southern Hemisphere. An annual cherry blossom festival during September is now a major event in Cowra's tourism calendar.

Brazil

With the Japanese diaspora to Brazil, many immigrants brought

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embryo ...

s of cherry trees. In

São Paulo State SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

, home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan, it is common to find them in Japan-related facilities and in some homes, usually of the cultivars ''

Prunus serrulata ''Prunus serrulata'' or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows naturally in Japan, China, and Korea, and it also refers to a cultivar produced from ''Prunus speciosa'' (Oshima cherry), a cherry tree endemic in Japan.Toshio Katsu ...

'' 'Yukiwari' and ''Prunus serrulata'' var. ''lannesiana'' 'Himalaya'. Some cities, such as Garça and

Campos do Jordão Campos do Jordão () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 52,405 (2020 est.) in an area of . The city is situated above s ...

, have annual festivals to celebrate the blooming of the trees and Japanese culture. In the Parana State (in southern Brazil), many cities received many of these immigrants, who planted the trees, as in

Apucarana Apucarana is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The municipality covers at an elevation of above mean sea level. Its 2020 population was estimated as 136,234. Transportation The city is served by Cap. João Busse Airport whic ...

, Maringá,

Cascavel Cascavel is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the fifth most populous city in the state with 332,333 residents, according to IBGE, a government agency. The distance to Curitiba, the state capital, is 491 kilometers by f ...

and especially in the capital city of

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

. In the capital city of Paraná, the first seedlings were brought by Japanese immigrants in the first half of the 20th century, but large quantities of them were only planted from the 1990s, with the opening of the

Botanical Garden of Curitiba The Jardim Botânico de Curitiba, in Portuguese, or the Botanical Garden of Curitiba, in English, also known as the "Jardim Botânico Fanchette Rischbieter", is a park located in the city of Curitiba - the capital of the state of Paraná, and th ...

. Nowadays, the seedlings are produced locally and used in afforestation of streets and

squares In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

– as in the Japanese Square, where there are more than 30 cherry trees around the square which were sent by the Japanese Empire to Curitiba.

Canada

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, is famous for its thousands of cherry trees (estimated 50,000) lining many streets and in many parks, including Queen Elizabeth Park and

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...

. Vancouver holds the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival every year. With multiple varieties and a temperate climate, they begin to bloom in February yearly and peak in April. In 2022, this intra-community arts and culture outdoor Festival will run from April 1st to 23rd, 2022. Cherry Blossom on English Bay Beach, Vancouver

Cherry Blossom on English Bay Beach, Vancouver

High Park High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, features many Somei-Yoshino cherry trees (the earliest species to bloom and much loved by the Japanese for their fluffy white flowers) that were given to Toronto by Japan in 1959. Through the Sakura Project, the Japanese Consulate donated a further 34 cherry trees to

in 2001, plus cherry trees to various other locations like

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

(near Calumet College and on Ottawa Road near McLaughlin College) and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

's main (next to Robarts Library) and Scarborough campuses. Niagara Falls has many near the falls themselves. Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and Hamilton was the recipient of several Somei-Yoshino cherry trees that were donated by the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto as part of the Sakura Project. The trees are located in the Arboretum and the Rock Garden and were planted to celebrate the continual strengthening of friendship between Japan and Canada. Peak bloom time at Royal Botanical Gardens is normally around the last week of April or the first week of May.

China

Cherry trees naturally grow in the middle northern or southern part of China, they are known as yinghua () in Chinese. However, some of the most famous cherry blossom parks in China reflect Japan's brief occupation of parts of China during the first half of the 20th century or the donation from Japan thereafter or prior: a notable example is Qinglong Temple - Xi’an. Cherry Blossom orchards were brought in by the Japanese monk Kukai in 806CE as a gift to commemorate his time as a student at the temple. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, twenty-eight cherry blossom trees were planted in

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; ) is a public research university in Wuhan, Hubei. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Wuhan university was founded as one of the four elite universities in the early republican period of China and i ...

by the Japanese troops. After the war ended it was decided that the trees would be preserved despite their historical implications. In 1972, as the China-Japan relations normalized, about 800 cherry blossom trees were donated to Wuhan University. Other donations would add to the numbers in the following years. Currently, Wuhan University has about one thousand cherry blossom trees of different kinds. 80% of these cherry trees are direct descendants of cherry trees planted by the Japanese. In 2020, when cherry blossom viewing became impossible due to the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, the state of cherry blossoms at Wuhan University was released on the Web and viewed a total of 750 million times.Nobuhiko Tanaka (2021) ''Why do Chinese people come to view cherry blossoms? Chinese people rediscovered cherry blossoms through Japan.''
NEC. March 24, 2021. Cherry blossoms are also used for friendship between China and Japan. In 1973, the following year of the

Japan–China Joint Communiqué The Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China was signed on September 29, 1972, in Beijing. The communique established and normalized diplomatic relations between Japan and the People's Rep ...

, Japan sent cherry trees to China as a symbol of friendship, and they were planted in the Yuyuantan Park in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. After that, the cherry trees were proliferated and planted, and the park became famous for cherry blossoms. In 1997, the Japanese Michinoku Bank and arborer Kazio Saito planned to open a cherry blossom park in Wuhan City for the sake of the friendship between the two countries, and from the same year the Japanese city of

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

, home to the Hirosaki Park famous for its cherry blossoms, began to advise Wuhan City on the planting and cultivation of cherry trees, and in 2016 Wuhan City and Hirosaki City signed a friendship agreement.

East Lake Cherry Blossom Park East Lake Cherry Blossom Park (), also called Wuhan Moshan Cherry Blossom Park (), is a park in the East Lake area of Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The Japanese cherry trees were planted in this area near Wuhan University du ...

opened in 2001, and 2.5 million people came to see the blossoms in 2018. There are sixty kinds of cherry trees, including Yoshino cherry and weeping cherry. International cherry blossoms Week in

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

began in the 1980s, when Keishiro Sakamoto and Kiyomi Hasegawa, Japanese citizens, planted 1,500 cherry trees in the China-Japan Friendship Cherry Blossom Forest. As of 2019, the Friendship Cherry Blossom Forest has become a cherry blossom viewing spot that attracts 500,000 cherry blossom viewers every year. As of 2019, there are 100 kinds of cherry trees in this forest. At the beginning of the 21st century, the popularity of cherry blossoms in China rapidly increased due to an increase in the number of visitors to Japan and the spread of SNS, and many cherry blossom viewers have visited many cherry blossom parks opened throughout China. According to statistics from 2019, the number of cherry blossoms-related tourists reached 340 million and the amount spent exceeded 60 billion yuan. Some notable cherry blossom sites in China include: * Longwangtang Cherry Blossom Park in Lushun, Dalian, Liaoning *

near

, in

Donghu District Donghu District () is one of 6 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, China. The district was created in the Tang dynasty when a bridge was built across Nanchang's Taihu lake, dividing the area ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

, in

* Nanshan Botanical Garden in

Nan'an District Nan'an District (), is one of the six central districts of Chongqing municipality, China. It covers an area of 262.43 km2, with 44 km2 covered with forests and woods. It has an estimated population of 891,000 in late 2017. Geography The ...

, Chongqing * Pingba Cherry Blossom Park in

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the ...

* Yuantouzhu in

France

Parc de Sceaux Sceaux () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004. A wealthy city Sceaux is famous for the Château de Sceaux ...

, located in a suburb of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, has two orchards of cherry trees, one for white cherry blossoms (''

'') and one for pink cherry blossoms (''

''), the latter with about 150 trees that attract many visitors when they bloom in early April.

Germany

The cherry blossom is a major tourist attraction in Germany's

Altes Land Altes Land () is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the '' S ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

region. The largest Hanami in Germany, in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, with Japanese-style fireworks, organized by the German-Japanese society, draws tens of thousands of spectators every spring. Starting in 2015, Hamburg will be allowed to bestow the title of "Cherry Blossom Queen" by the

Japan Cherry Blossom Association Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, one of only three cities worldwide to receive this privilege. The first Cherry Blossom Queen of Hamburg will be crowned by the Cherry Blossom Queen of Japan on 23 May. In 1990, along prior sections of the Berlin Wall, Japan donated cherry blossoms to express appreciation for German reunification. The gift was supported by donations from the Japanese people allowing for over 9,000 trees to be planted. The first trees were planted in November of that year near the

Glienicke Bridge The Glienicke Bridge (german: Glienicker Brücke, ) is a bridge across the Havel River in Germany, connecting the Wannsee district of Berlin with the Brandenburg capital Potsdam. It is named after nearby Glienicke Palace. The current bridge, the ...

. The Cherry Blossom festival in the Bonn Altstadt is also very famous: .

India

Zosterops japonicus, Cibodas Botanical Gardens, Java

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the cherry blossom is an attraction as well, most notably in Himalayan states like

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, Jammu and Kashmir,

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

& northern districts of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

namely

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...

and

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, along with

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

, northern part of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

and the tropical highlands of

Garo Hills The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion. De ...

and

Khasi Hills The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. Khasi Hil ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

where '' Prunus cerasoides'' is native to. These states are notable for Prunus cerasoides trees called wild cherry blossom trees covering Himalayan foothills which blooms during the autumn months. They can also be seen in various British-era

botanical gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

especially in Nilgiri Hills in the Western Ghats in southern India. It blooms during the months of October and November in northern and northeastern India, while they bloom towards the end of August and into September in the southern India. '' Prunus cerasoides'', called wild Himalayan cherry, Indian wild cherry, and sour cherry, is known in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as ''padam'', ''pajja'', or ''padmakashtha''. Among Hindus in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it is considered sacred and associated with Vishnu and Shiva. During

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

, the leaves are used to make a wreath with wild citrus fruits and hung at the prayer altar. In addition, the leaves are also used as incense. Unlike its cousin species in Japan and Korea, which flower in spring, ''Prunus cerasoides'' cherry trees flower during autumn. Cherry blossom festivals in India are held during October–November when ''Prunus cerasoides'' blooms. Shillong is notable for its cherry blossom festival during autumn.

Indonesia

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, cherry blossoms can be found in

Cibodas Botanical Garden Cibodas Botanical Garden ( id, Kebun Raya Cibodas, KRC) is a botanical garden on the slopes of Mount Gede, located in the Cibodas subdistrict of West Java, Indonesia. It was operated by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), which now ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

Korea

Cherry trees have been used in Korea for a long time. It has been used in making bows and woodblocks ( Palman Daejanggyeong). According to tradition, monks used wood from silver magnolias, white birches, and cherry trees from the Southern coast of the peninsula. The origins of cherry blossoms in South Korea is contentious. The Japanese planted Yoshino cherry trees at Seoul's

Changgyeonggung Changgyeong Palace is a palace located in Seoul, South Korea. The palace was built in the mid-15th century by King Sejong for his father, Taejong. It was originally named "Suganggung", but it was renovated and enlarged in 1483 by King Seongjo ...

Palace and the viewing of cherry blossoms was introduced to Korea during Japanese rule. The festivals continued even after the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII but have been controversial, and many cherry trees were cut down to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Japanese surrender because they were seen as symbols of the occupation.Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. ''Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms''. 2002, page 122-3. Yet Koreans continued to plant Yoshino cherry trees and festivals began attracting a wide range of tourists. Many Korean media assert that the Yoshino cherry is the same species as a Korean indigenous, endangered species called

King cherry King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, whose mass production is still being studied. In 2007, a study conducted on the comparison of King cherry and Yoshino cherry concluded that these trees were categorized as distinct species. In 2016, a study on DNA analyses suggested the independent origin between King cherry and yoshino cherry from each other. In 2016, a new scientific name ''Cerasus'' × ''nudiflora'' was given to King cherry to distinguish it from Yoshino cherry (''Prunus'' × ''yedoensis''). In Korea most of the places for cherry blossom festivals, including

Yeouido Yeouido (Hangul: 여의도, en, Yoi Island or Yeoui Island) is a large island (or eyot) on the Han River (Korea), Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main finance and investment banking district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to ...

and

Jinhae Jinhae-gu (Hangul: 진해구, Hanja: 鎭海區) is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring. The city front is on a shelter ...

, are still planted with Yoshino cherry trees. In Korea, cherry blossoms have the meaning of purity and beauty.

Myanmar

Cherry blossoms are part of the attraction of the temperate regions of the country. The town

Pyin Oo Lwin Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, some east of Mandalay, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of ...

, known as "The Land of Cherries", is famous for its cherry blossoms during the spring. Some cherry trees, genetically modified to be able to survive in the tropical weather, were also planted in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, the commercial capital, as a part of the friendship program with Japan.

Netherlands

In the year 2000, the Japan Women's Club (JWC) donated 400 cherry blossom trees to the city of

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages ...

. The trees have been planted in the cherry blossom park in the

Amsterdamse Bos The Amsterdamse Bos (English: ''Amsterdam Forest'') is an English park or landscape park in the municipalities of Amstelveen and Amsterdam. Although most of the park is located in Amstelveen, the owner of the park is the City of Amsterdam. The ...

. A special detail is that every tree has a name — 200 trees have female Japanese names, and 200 trees have female Dutch names.

New Zealand

Christchurch cherry blossoms and water wheel

Hagley Park is the largest

urban open space In land-use planning, urban green space is open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces", including plant life, water features -also referred to as blue spaces- and other kinds of natural environment. Most urban open spaces are ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and has many cherry blossom trees of several varieties.

Taiwan

Typically found in mountainous areas, cherry blossoms are a popular attraction in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, with numerous specially tailored viewing tours. Among the most easily accessible and thus most popular locations for viewing them are

Yangmingshan Yangmingshan National Park is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan, located in both Taipei and New Taipei City. The districts that are partially in the park include Taipei's Beitou and Shilin Districts; and New Taipei's Wanli, Jinshan ...

, in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

, and

Wuling Farm Wuling Farm () is a tourist attraction farm in Heping District, Taichung, Taiwan. History The farm was originally established in 1963 to provide employment for retired servicemen. At the beginning of the reclamation phase, the first director o ...

, in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...

Thailand

Cherry blossoms are found in

Northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailan ...

Turkey

In 2005, Japanese cherry trees were presented by Japan to the Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey. Each tree represents one sailor of the frigate ''Ertugrul'' which was a famous frigate of the Ottoman Turkish navy. On the way back from a goodwill visit to Japan in 1890 she ran into a typhoon and sank with a loss of 587 Ottoman Turkish sailors. That loss is remembered on every anniversary. The Japanese cherry trees represent the memory of those who died and provide remembrance.

United Kingdom

From the late 19th century to the early 20th century,

collected and studied Japanese cherry blossoms and created various cultivars such as Okame and Kursar. Ingram had Taihaku, a cultivar that had disappeared in Japan in the early 20th century, return to Japan.Toshio Katsuki. (2018) ''Sakura no Kagaku (Science of Cherry Blossoms)''. pp.166–169 SB Creative. Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.119–123

. Cherry trees are widely cultivated in public and private gardens throughout the UK, where the climate is well suited to them. Batsford Arboretum in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

(

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

), holds the national collection of Japanese village cherries, Sato-zakura Group.

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in Staffordshire (England), has one of the UK's largest collections of flowering cherries, with more than 150 varieties. The

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

has given its prestigious Award of Garden Merit to many flowering cherry species and cultivars. In March 2020, in the first national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

initiated the # BlossomWatch campaign, inspired by cherry blossom festivals in Japan. The campaign encouraged people to share images of the first signs of Spring, in particular blossom, on lockdown walks. The campaign was repeated in 2021 and 2022.

United States

Japan gave 3,020 cherry blossom trees as a gift to the United States in 1912 to celebrate the growing friendship between the two countries, replacing an earlier gift of 2,000 trees that had to be destroyed due to disease in 1910. These trees were planted in

Sakura Park Sakura Park is a public park located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, north of West 122nd Street between Riverside Drive and Claremont Avenue. Situated between Riverside Church on the south, the Manhattan S ...

in Manhattan and lined the shore of the Tidal Basin and the roadway in East Potomac Park in

The first two original trees were planted by the first lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda on the bank of the Tidal Basin. The gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in 1965. In Washington, D.C. the cherry blossom trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual

National Cherry Blossom Festival The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington, D.C. Ozaki gave the trees to enhan ...

) when they reach full bloom in early spring. Just outside of Washington, the suburb of Kenwood in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, has roughly 1,200 trees that are popular with locals and tourists. New Jersey's

Branch Brook Park Branch Brook Park is a county park of Essex County, New Jersey. It is located in the North Ward of Newark, between the neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Roseville. A portion of the park is also located within the Township of Belleville. At , ...

, which is maintained by Essex County, is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in one US location, with about 5,000. Balboa Park in San Diego has 1,000 cherry blossom trees that blossom in mid- to late March. In Los Angeles, over 2,000 trees are located at Lake Balboa in Van Nuys. These trees were donated by a Japanese benefactor and were planted in 1992. Philadelphia is home to over 2,000 flowering Japanese cherry trees, half of which were a gift from the Japanese government in 1926 in honor of the 150th anniversary of American independence, with the other half planted by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia between 1998 and 2007. Philadelphia's cherry blossoms are located within Fairmount Park, and the annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia celebrates the blooming trees. The

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in Seattle also has cherry blossoms in its quad. Other US cities have an annual cherry blossom festival (or ''sakura matsuri''), including the

International Cherry Blossom Festival The International Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Macon, Georgia every spring. Macon, known as the "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World," has around 300,000–350,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees that bloom around the city in late March every year. Th ...

in Macon, Georgia, which features over 300,000 cherry trees. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City also has a large, well-attended festival. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is the site of the peace conference that produced the Treaty of Portsmouth, for which the original Washington, D.C. cherry trees were given in thanks. Several cherry trees planted on the bank of the tidal pond next to Portsmouth City Hall were the gift of Portsmouth's Japanese sister city of Nichinan, Miyazaki, Nichinan—the hometown of Marquis Komura Jutarō, Japan's representative at the conference. Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, has 200 somei yoshino trees, a gift from its sister institution, Japan's Chubu University. File:USA-Cherry Blossom0.jpg, Cherry blossoms bloom by the thousands every spring in Washington, D.C. File:Newark cherry blossoms.jpg, Cherry blossoms in Newark, New Jersey File:Cherry Blossoms Owensboro Public Library 4-6-15.JPG, Cherry blossoms in Owensboro, Kentucky

Culinary use

Cherry blossoms and leaves are edible and both are used as food ingredients in Japan: * The blossoms are pickled in salt and Umeboshi, umezu (ume vinegar), and used for coaxing out flavor in wagashi, (a traditional Japanese confectionery,) or anpan, (a Japanese sweet bun, most-commonly filled with red bean paste). * Salt-pickled blossoms in hot water are called sakurayu, and drunk at festive events like weddings in place of green tea. * The Leaf, leaves, mostly from the Prunus speciosa, Ōshima cherry because of the softness, are also pickled in salted water and used for sakuramochi. * The fruit, called , is small and does not have much flesh beyond the seed within. Due to their bitter taste, the ''sakuranbo'' should not be eaten raw, or whole; the seed inside should be removed and the fruit itself processed as preserves. Since the leaves contain coumarin, which is toxic in large doses, it is not recommended to eat them in great quantities. Likewise, the seeds should not be eaten.

Gallery

File:BC Legislative Building with Cherry Trees in Bloom - Victoria BC - Canada.jpg, BC Legislative Building with cherry trees in bloom, Victoria, British Columbia File:12Cherry blossoms.JPG, Cherry blossoms in Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario File:Cherryblossoms Canada 03.jpg, Spring cherry blossoms at the university campus, Vancouver, Canada File:Cherry Tree Blossoms at Camosun College - Interurban Campus.jpg, Cherry Tree Blossoms at Camosun College, Greater Victoria, British Columbia File:8Cherry blossoms.JPG, Cherry blossoms at Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Canada File:Cherry blossoms. Eastern Siberia.jpg, Cherry blossoms. Eastern Siberia File:Osaka-Castle-cherry-blossom-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Cherry blossom at Osaka Castle File:Yoshino-yama-cherry-blossom-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Cherry blossom at Mount Yoshino File:櫻花-南投魚池金龍山 Cherry blossom-Jinlongshan, Yuchi, Nantou 20220216205715 02.jpg, Cherry blossom, Jinlong Mountain, Taiwan. File:Cherry Blossom Festival Washington DC.JPG, Thousands of people attend the annual

every spring in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

Japanese Cherry Blossom Guide

Japanese Cherry Blossom Events & Locations

Copenhagen Sakura Festival

Flowering cherry Database, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

* [http://www.cherryblossom.com/ International Cherry Blossom Festival Online], Information about the 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees in Macon, Georgia, and the 10-day celebration held in mid-March
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Information about the 37,000 cherry trees in Greater Vancouver (Canada), What's in bloom now, Cherry Scout reports and maps, Cultivar identification.
Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia
, Information about cherry trees and the annual two-week Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia.
Cherry Blossoms Celebration In Japan

Cherry Blossoms Celebration Tourism Office Valle del Jerte in Spain
{{Authority control Cherry blossom, Cherries Flora of Japan Flowers Garden plants of Asia Ornamental trees National symbols of Japan Plants used in bonsai Prunus Spring (season) Trees of Japan fi:Kirsikat

Classification

Time of flowering

Flower viewing in Japan

Symbolism in Japan

Cultivars

By country and region

Australia

Brazil

Canada

China

France

Germany

India

Indonesia

Korea

Myanmar

Netherlands

New Zealand

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Culinary use

Gallery

See also

References

External links