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The
National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring
celebration in Washington,
D.C.
commemorating the March 27,
1912, gift of Japanese cherry
tree from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of
Tokyo
to the city of Washington. Mayor Ozaki donated
the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between
the United
States
and Japan
and also
celebrate the continued close relationship between the two
nations.
History
In a
ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen
Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese
ambassador, planted the first two of these trees on the north bank
of the Tidal
Basin
in West Potomac Park
. By 1915 the United States government had
responded with a gift of flowering
dogwood
trees to the people of Japan. In 1927, a group of American school
children re-enacted the initial planting; the first festival was
held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital.
Suspended during World War II because of hostilities between the
United States and the Empire of Japan, the festival resumed in 1947
with the support of the Washington, D.C. Board of Trade and the
D.C. Commissioners. In 1948, the Cherry Blossom Princess and U.S.
Cherry Blossom Queen program were started by the
National Conference of
State Societies.
3,800 more trees were accepted in 1965 by First Lady
Lady Bird Johnson. In 1981 the cycle of
giving came full circle. Japanese horticulturalists came to take
cuttings from the trees in Washington, D.C. to replace Yoshino
cherry trees in Japan that had been destroyed in a flood. With this
return gift, the trees again fulfilled their roles as a symbol and
agent of friendship. The most recent event in this cycle occurred
in the fall of 1999.
It involved the formal planting in the Tidal
Basin of a new generation of cuttings from a famous Japanese cherry
tree in Gifu
Prefecture
reputed to
be over 1,500 years old.
In 1994 the Festival was expanded to two weeks to accommodate the
many activities that happen during the trees' blooming. Today the
National Cherry Blossom Festival is coordinated by the National
Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc., an umbrella organization consisting
of representatives of business, civic, and governmental
organizations. More than 700,000 people visit Washington each year
to admire the blossoming cherry trees that herald the beginning of
spring in the nation's capital.
The two-week festival is kicked off with an opening ceremony,
followed by an array of activities and cultural events. Every day
there is a
sushi/
sake
celebration, classes about cherry blossoms, and a bike tour of the
Tidal Basin. Other events include art exhibits (photography,
sculpture, animation), cultural performances,
rakugo,
kimono fashion shows,
dance, singing,
martial arts,
merchant-sponsored events, and a
rugby
union tournament.
A Close up of one of the Cherry Trees
in Full Bloom.
The
Cherry Blossom 10-Mile
Run is held as part of the festival on the first Sunday in
April. Because the festival must be planned long in advance, it
sometimes fails to be celebrated during the peak of the cherry
blooms. On the last Saturday of the festival, there is the Parade
of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, followed by the
Sakura Matsuri-Japanese Street
Festival, a celebration of Japan presented by the Japan-America
Society of Washington, D.C.
The
Smithsonian Kite
Festival begins the festival on the last Saturday of
March.
See also
External links
Wikis
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