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Livescience_2013 07603.txt

#What's the Cultural Significance of Cherry Blossoms? In 1912 Japan gave more than 3000 cherry-blossom trees to the United states as a gift to honor the growing bond between the two countries. Now the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D c. commemorates this century-old offering of goodwill when the trees bloom each spring. The flowering trees in Washington D c. symbolize friendship between nations the renewal of spring and the ephemeral nature of life according to the U s. National park service. But what is the cultural significance of cherry blossoms to Japan? Similar to Washington D c. Japan has a yearly flower-viewing celebration called hanami where thousands of people hold feasts under blooming cherry-blossom trees or sakura. This tradition is over a thousand years old. In Japan cherry blossoms also symbolize the transience of life which is a major theme in Buddhism. The cherry-blossom tree is known for its short but brilliant blooming season a natural process that metaphorically describes human life. Additionally cherry blossoms have held long significance to Japanese nationalism and militarism anthropologist Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney wrote in her book Kamikaze Cherry Blossoms and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History (University Of Chicago Press 2002. A fallen cherry blossom symbolizes a fallen samurai who sacrificed his life for the emperor. During WORLD WAR II the flowers took on a similar meaning when they were painted on the side of kamikaze warplanes. Follow us@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Livescience. com m

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