Japanese cherry blossoms

Welcome Spring -

This week SMART "R" ARTS special

" There's always flowers for those... who want to see them" - Henri Matisse

In Japan, the cherry trees (Japanese call sakura) come into full bloom around the beginning of April. April is the month when the new school year starts for Japanese children; it's also the month when companies start their new business years and when many new graduates start to work. So the cherry blossoms make people think of new beginnings. When they are in bloom, people make special visits to parks and other spots with many cherry trees; often they have picnics under the branches with family and friends. Japan has more types of cherry trees than any other country, over 200 in all. The blossoms are pickled and used to make a hot drink served on special occasions, and the leaves are pickled and used as the wrapping for sweets. Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC. The gift and annual celebration honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and the continued close relationship between the two countries.Still every year lot of visitors comes to see the Cherry blossom festival... See you next week with one more topic..