Sakura

A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese (桜 or 櫻; さくら).

From the end of March to early May, sakura blooms all over Japan, and around the first of February on the island of Okinawa. The blossom forecast is announced each year by the weather bureau, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami as the blossom only lasts a week or two.

The start of the sakura cherry blossom season coincides with the onset of Japan's calendar and fiscal years, which means a new beginning for Japanese people. Students attend the first day of the school year and new employees begin the first working day at their job.

Thousands of people fill the parks to hold feasts under the flowering trees, and sometimes these parties go on until late at night.

The Cherry Blossom is a cultural icon in Japan and has obtained a remarkable symbolic significance.

Symbol of Transience

Cherry Blossoms' existence is brief. Like Cherry Blossoms’ exceptional beauty followed by a quick death, human life can be given and taken at any moment. Transience of Cherry Blossoms reminds us that life is too short to be squandered.

Also, since cherry trees blossom en masse, they have also been used as metaphors for clouds.

Symbol of Hope

As the beginning of Cherry Blossom season coincides with both the fiscal and calendar years in Japan, it symbolizes the arrival of new beginnings. The intense of Cherry Blossoms allow us to forget past disappointments and failures and look ahead with optimism and enthusiasm.

Symphony of Cherry Blossoms

Like a symphony played in allegretto, Cherry Blossoms is impressive, divine and brief. It is nature’s opus to mortality, hope, power and love. Though the flowers themselves are ephemeral, Cherry Blossom symbolism will endure for eternity.

Model: MD-036

The clock symbolizes life awakening, spiritual and creative renewal.

Kannon's* tiled temple
roof floats far away in clouds
of cherry blossoms

Matsuo Basho
(*Goddess of Compassion)