About Those Cherry Blossoms

There is undoubtedly something deep in human nature that enjoys the flowers of spring. The tradition of “hanami” or viewing blossoming plum and cherry trees as a societal event in Japan goes back to the 8^th century and thanks to some Americans in the early 20^th century who picked up on that tradition, Washington D.C. has one of the more significant spring festivals in the country.

And a woman by the name of Eliza Scidmore might be considered the “mother of the DC cherry blossoms”. She was a journalist and photographer and had traveled to Japan in the 1800’s. Japan had been closed off to foreigners until the 1850’s and Scidmore had witnessed firsthand the beauty of the trees there in the spring and how they were enjoyed by the Japanese. By the 1880’s she began promoting the idea that the U.S. government should to bring these trees to Washington to plant in the area near the Potomac that the city was reclaiming from the swamp.

Tidal Basin Cherry Tree March 2012

She may have inspired the botanist David Fairchild to import 1000 cherry trees from Yokohama and plant them on his property in Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1906. In 1909 Scidmore wrote to First Lady Helen Herron Taft about her idea to raise money to buy the trees herself, but the First Lady had decided it was such a good idea, she would go through government channels. As it turned out that Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine was visiting Washington with Mr. Midzuno, Japanese consul in New York. On hearing of the First Lady’s plans, the Japanese asked if they could give an additional 2,000 trees in the name of the city of Tokyo. Mrs. Taft agreed and plans were made to have the trees shipped from Japan.

The mature trees arrived in Washington in January of 1910, but when the Department of Agriculture officials inspected them, it was discovered that they were infected with insects and diseased. President Taft gave his consent to have the trees burned. The Japanese took the news in stride and decided to make a larger gift of 3,020 trees which arrived in March of 1912. On March 27, Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador planted two cherry trees near the Tidal Basin.

In 1927 the original planting was reenacted by school children and in 1935 the first “Cherry Blossom Festival” was established and became an annual event. In 1938 the trees were so beloved that many women protested when it was discovered that the building of the Jefferson Memorial required the removal of some of the trees.

Four of the trees were chopped down in December of 1941. It’s unknown exactly why this happened, but it was supposed at the time to be retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The trees were referred to as “Oriental” during WWII.

Tidal Basin 2012

A stone lantern and stone pagoda were given as gifts of peace and friendship to the U.S. by Japan in 1954 and 1956 and were erected in the Tidal Basin area and in 1965 another gift of 3,800 Yoshino cherry trees was given by Japan to the U.S. Most of these were planted on the grounds of the Washington Monument. And cuttings from older trees have gone both ways.

A few dozen of the original trees still survive, and there’s no doubt the blossoms will continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. The National Park Service website for the D.C. Cherry Blossoms is here. See you in 2016.

Links: National Park Service Cherry Blossom Site