cherry blossom

Every spring, the cherry trees all over Japan burst into bloom. Everywhere you look, there are petals in elegant, subtle shades of pink. And they scatter in the wind to create a dreamy atmosphere. the cherry blossom is regarded as an iconic flower of Japan. And, in fact, for many Japanese, it is synonymous with the world 'flower'. More than 300 different varieties of flowering cherries grow around the country. Cherry blossoms have long been used as a design element in various ways. These lacquered bowls are decorated with blossom motifs. And here, a lacquered box for storing letters... By depicting cherry blossoms on everyday objects like these, people have managed to suggest and enjoy a sense of spring. Since ancient times, people have admired all kinds of flowers and composed poetry inspired by them. It was around the 10th century that cherry blossoms became prominent as one of the motifs of spring. They are refereed in many of the narratives and poems written around that time. It is because the Cherry blossoms fall, That they are beautiful in the eyes of all. Nothing is eternal in the world we live in.
The aristocrats of that time saw their own mortal lives reflected in the Cherry blossoms that bloom and fall all too quickly. After the start of the Edo period, 400 years ago, blossom-viewing caught on as a form of entertainment for ordinary townspeople. When the cherry blossom season arrived, people would gather, taking food and drink with them, and have boisterous parties. For some people, this was a way to vent their daily frustrations. In the middle of the 19th century, a new variety of flowering cherry called SOMEI-YOSHINO was created. It was distinguished by the austere beauty of its large whitish flowers, SOMEI-YOSHINO cherry trees only bloom for a particularly short period of time, and their petals seem to start dropping almost as soon as they've opened. This dovetails perfectly with the traditional Japanese aesthetic sensibility that finds beauty not only in blooming flowers but also in the way they flutter to the ground.

In the traditional Japanese worldview, the transience of life is felt through the changing seasons. At the same time, the aesthetic of understated beauty is valued highly. For over 1000 years, people in Japan have perceived the cherry blossom to be the mirror of their sensibility.