What is Sakura?

      Japan is a country with a long history, rich culture and varied topography. Therefore, many symbols of Japan have developed over the years and are recognized worldwide. one of the most famous symbols is Sakura. In Japanese, the cherry is called “Sakura', which is generally believed to be a corruption of the word “Sakuya” (blooming) from the name of Princess Kono-Hana-Sakuya-Hime, who is enshrined on the top of the mountain Fuji. This long name means “tree-flowers-blooming princess”, for the cherry was so well known in those early days in Japan that the flower meant nothing but cherry. The princess was so named because, it is said, she fell from heaven upon a cherry tree.

     The cherry blossom is the flower of flowers to the Japanese people. It symbolizes their national character. This is because the life of a samurai of feudal times was proverbially compared to the short-lived cherry blossoms that last “no more than three days”, for a samurai was always ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of his master. Another saying is that “what the cherry is among flowers is the samurai among men”.

The Japanese are very proud of their Sakura. They love to see not only the single petal cherry blossoms in their prime and freshness, they also relish the beauty of falling snowy petals in the spring breeze. Of all flowers, the cherry blossoms appeal most to the aesthetic taste of the Japanese people. The Japanese people are never so jubilant, cheerful, optimistic and youthful as they are at the time of “Sakura” blossom.

     Beautiful as it is in bloom, the Japanese cherry tree does not yield fruit like other cherry trees. A critic once remarked that the Japanese cherry does not have to produce a market crop because it is born aristocrat and its single mission is to be beautiful. But it renders a very useful service to the Japanese people. The wood of the cherry tree is very valuable. It is used for producing color prints, furniture, trays, ornamental columns for alcoves and so on. In old days Sakura wood was used for making printing blocks for books and pictures.