Cherry blossom
As a result, various cultivars, known as the Cerasus Sato-zakura Group, have been produced since the 14th century and continue to contribute greatly to the development of hanami (flower viewing) culture.
[1]: 27, 89–91 [6]: 160–161 From the modern period, cultivars are mainly propagated by grafting, which quickly produces cherry trees with the same genetic characteristics as the original individuals, and which are excellent to look at.
[1]: 119–123 British plant collector Collingwood Ingram conducted important studies of Japanese cherry trees after the First World War.
The Oshima cherry, which is an endemic species in Japan, tends to mutate into a double-flowered tree, grows quickly, has many large flowers, and has a strong fragrance.
[1]: 86–95, 106, 166–168 [14][15][6]: 40–42 "Hanami" is the many centuries-old practice of holding feasts or parties under blooming sakura (桜 or 櫻; さくら or サクラ) or ume (梅; うめ) trees.
[16] From then on, in both waka and haiku, "flowers" (花, hana) meant "cherry blossoms," as implied by one of Izumi Shikibu's poems.
[17] The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court but soon spread to samurai society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well.
However, this situation was limited to urban areas, and the main objects of hanami across the country were still wild species such as Prunus jamasakura (Yamazakura) [ja] and Oshima cherry.
[1]: 2–7, 156–160 Various other cultivars were cut down one after another during changes related to the rapid modernization of cities, such as the reclamation of waterways and the demolition of daimyo gardens.
After World War II, these cultivars were inherited by the National Institute of Genetics, Tama Forest Science Garden and the Flower Association of Japan, and from the 1960s onwards were again used for hanami.
Many cultivars of the Sato-zakura group, which were developed from complex interspecific hybrids based on Oshima cherry, are often used for ornamental purposes.
[1]: 40–56 The flowering time of cherry trees is thought to be affected by global warming and the heat island effect of urbanization.
[27][28] There's an escalating concern of climate change as it poses a threat to sakura cultivars, given that they are highly susceptible to shifts in temperature and weather fluctuations.
[29] In 2023, it has been observed in China that cherry blossoms have reached their peak bloom weeks earlier than they previously had a few decades ago.
Similarly, data from Kyoto, Japan, and Washington, D.C., United States, also indicated that blooming periods are occurring earlier in those locations as well.
[30] Although precise forecasting is generally challenging, AI predictions from Japan Meteorological Agency, have suggested that without substantial efforts to rein in climate change, the Somei-Yoshino cherry tree variety could face significant challenges and even the risk of disappearing entirely from certain parts of Japan, including Miyazaki, Nagasaki, and Kagoshima prefectures in the Kyushu region by 2100.
[32] Due to their characteristic of blooming en masse, cherry blossoms and are considered an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life.
[33] Cherry blossoms frequently appear in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as stage set designs for musical performances.
[36] The traditional symbolism of cherry blossoms as a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life is associated with the influence of Shinto,[37] embodied in the concept of mono no aware (物の哀れ)[a] (the pathos of things).
[38] The transience of the blossoms, their beauty, and their volatility have often been associated with mortality[33] and the graceful and ready acceptance of destiny and karma.
[39] During World War II, cherry blossoms were used as a symbol to motivate the Japanese people and stoke nationalism and militarism.
[42] In 1894, Sasaki Nobutsuna composed a poem, Shina seibatsu no uta (The Song of the Conquest of the Chinese) to coincide with the First Sino-Japanese War.
[45] 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".
In this art form, cherry blossoms are often combined with other classic Japanese symbols like koi fish, dragons, or tigers.
The 'Somei-yoshino' is so widely associated with cherry blossoms that jidaigeki and other works of fiction often show the trees being cultivated in the Edo period or earlier, although such depictions are anachronisms.
However, it is thought that 'Kawazu-zakura' blooms earlier because Prunus campanulata from Okinawa, which did not originally grow naturally in Honshu, was crossed with the Oshima cherry.
The global distribution of ornamental cherry trees, along with flower viewing festivals or hanami, largely started in the early 20th century, often as gifts from Japan.
[85][87][88][89] In 1975, three Japanese researchers proposed a theory that cherry trees originated in the Himalayan region and spread eastwards to reach Japan at a time before human civilisation, when the Japanese archipelago was connected to the Eurasian continent, and that cherry species differentiation was actively promoted in Japan.
[90] According to Masataka Somego, a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, cherry trees originated 10 million years ago in what is now Nepal and later differentiated in the Japanese archipelago, giving rise to species unique to Japan.
[96] Coumarin may also be isolated from the plant for use in perfumes,[107] pipe tobacco, or as an adulterant in vanilla flavorings, though the tonka bean is a more common natural source of this chemical.
