Gil Asakawa's Nikkei View

September 14, 2012

“Sakura”: Final event celebrating centenary of Japan’s gift of cherry blossom trees to US

It was the right song for the occasion: Duo Sokyo ended a brief concert marking the 100th anniversary of Japan's gift of more than 3,000 cherry trees to the United States as a symbol of friendship, with the traditional Japanese folksong that is probably best-known in the west, "Sakura," or "Cherry Blossom." Duo Sokyo, Yoko Hiraoka playing the koto, a traditional...

April 17, 2012

Denver marks the 100th anniversary of cherry trees from Japan to US by planting 50 trees

[caption id="attachment_4327" align="alignright" width="515" caption="Cherry blossoms at the Japanese Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo (photo Public Domain from Wikimedia Commons)"][/caption] When I was a kid in Japan, my family would make the requisite trek out every spring to see the cherry trees, or sakura, blooming at places like the Imperial Palace (above) or Ueno Park, which is better known the rest...

May 16, 2009

Cherry blossom time in Japan

Sakura in Tokyo byJames T. Kirk on Vimeo. No doubt about it, the springtime blooming of sakura, or cherry blossoms, in Japan is one reason the country is special. The Japanese treat the season with wonder, with weather forecasts about the optimal blooming days and following the cherry blossoms from the warmer southern climate all the way up to Hokkaido, the...