Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi (Japanese: 花は桜木人は武士, literally "the [best] blossom is the cherry blossom; the [best] man is the warrior") is a Japanese proverb that originated in the medieval period.
[2] The samurai was also likened to cherry blossom as his life, while glorious, was prone to a sudden end during military service, similar to petals shed by cherry blossoms or camellia.
[2] The association of cherry blossoms with the samurai class was established by the kabuki theater which also popularized the proverb.
[3] The proverb's theme is echoed in a poem attributed to the priest Ikkyū in Mottomo no sōshi (1634): "Among men the samurai [is best]; among pillars, cypress wood; among fish, the sea bream; among robes, magenta; and among cherry blossoms, those of Yoshino".
Later, the proverb was evoked in the Japanese military as a motivation following the outbreak of World War II.