Japan - U.S. Cherry blossom centennial

by aleks
[Click on pics to see them larger]

Well, yoshino cherries at UW are in full bloom.  Wet sakura this year, but very beautiful still. It's been raining almost entire week, with a few hours here and there of sun breaking through...

3/31/12 - UW yoshino cherry blossoms in full bloom, and full of rain, too.

Because of the abundance of cherrie trees in Seattle, many of them a gift from Japan, the whole city looks like a giant Seattle sakura, although there are some better hanami locations then other - i listed them last year, along with links to hanami stories/pics.  And if you want more on Japanese/US connection head to Seattle Center on April 13-15 for Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival at the Fisher Pavilion - you can learn the game GO, participate in a tea ceremony demonstration,  enjoy delicious food, Taiko drumming, Japanese artisan demonstrations and artwork.

3/31/12 • UW: wet snow of cherry blossoms

This year marks 100th anniversary of the gift of the cherry trees from the people of Japan to the people of the United States.  Here some links to stories about this event:

• An article in National geographic:
The cherry trees are blooming in Washington. Tuesday, March 27, 2012, marks 100 years since First Lady Helen Taft and the Japanese ambassador’s wife, Viscountess Iwa Chinda, planted the first two trees. No photographs of the event exist, and newspaper accounts were sketchy. But historical records offer a picture of what happened that day and how it came about.
The rest is here...

•  A story from Consulate General of Japan in Seattle:

This year Consulate General of Japan in Seattle is participating in the nationwide celebration of the gift of cherry trees to the United States. These trees were planted on the tidal basin in Washington D.C. Originally, over 3,000 trees were sent as a gift to build and cement the friendship between Japan and the United States. As the friendship between the U.S. and Japan has continued to deepen, more trees have been added to locations accross the United States. At present, cherry blossom festivals are held each year throught North America to celebrate the blossoming of these beautiful trees.
The rest is here....

•  Embassy of Japan in the United States of America website has a great photo gallery and a map of cherry blossoms across USA.


If all of that Cherry Blossom festivities put you in a mood for writing haiku (it should!) check the upcoming events of Haiku Northwest - you can register for “Haiku in the Woods” free haiku workshop and haiku walk led by Michael Dylan Welch, sponsored by the Sammamish Arts Commission.

SJG • 3/30/12 - Magnificent trunk of 100 yo+ maple

And, of course, don't forget to visit us, at  Seattle Japanese Garden in Washington Park Arboretum!  This is the only time of the year when you can observe magnificent maple trunk structures and the bare bones of the Garden, before it leafs out;  it is my personal favorite time in the Garden: you can freely spy on its design without being distracted by all that comes later in the shape of leaves, blooms and scents. Some  rhododendrons and camellias are blooming already, if you must have a color to go with it, and of course pieris japonica is on permeant flower display, and about to shoot red new growth, and so is buttercup winter hazel and Japanese spicebush; yesterday I noticed  osmanthus has buds, too, about to fill the whole eastern path with incredible scent, woo hoo!

3/31/12 • Sakura Seattle:
cherry trees in my neighborhood

BTW, I shyly started SJG 2012 bloom record - shyly, because it's in a new platform and I'm learning to navigate still - have trouble with pic sizing, text manipulation and a few other things: Keiko noted that there is too much scrolling there, therefore I'm trying to figure out how to limit the format to 1 post per page, but that's so far like fighting the windmills - it's predetermined to hold 10 posts per page and without some serious html study on my part... Well, don't hold your breath yet - that's not where my talents are...