How Do You Hold the Memory of a Cherry Blossom in Your Hand?

A cherry blossom may last for only a few days—or a couple of weeks, if we’re lucky—but that’s why we love its beauty, the ephemeral moments that bring us joy and the anticipation for next year’s abundance. And still, we humans want to hang on to that beauty. Artists throughout centuries used their craft to make the charm of cherry blossoms last longer, whether by capturing the blossoms as accurate to life as possible, or expressing their sentiment towards the blooming tree, robust and fragile at the same time.

Now that this year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival has come and gone, we’d like to highlight a literary way to hold on to its memory. Mari Nakahara and Katherine Blood, two curators in the Library’s Prints and Photographs division, are deep appreciators of cherry blossoms (or sakura in Japanese) and the many ways artists have represented them through a variety of media. Mari and Katherine gathered photographs, mementos, watercolor illustrations, and other forms of art into their book “Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress,” published by Smithsonian Books in partnership with the Library of Congress in 2020. Below are their highlights from the book:

Mari’s Highlights

Gyoiko, one of the twelve varieties of the cherry blossoms given to Washington, D.C. from the city of Tokyo in 1912, is lesser-known in comparison with other varieties such as Somei Yoshino or Kwan-zan. It may be because the gift included only twenty Gyoiko trees, and all were planted in a relatively inconspicuous place: the White House grounds. Katherine and I had a rare opportunity to see a full blossom of the Gyoikoat the National Arboretum before the pandemic; we were struck by its beauty of unusual green-ish color with a deep red in center.

Friends who take photos of each other are wonderful friends indeed!

This 2008 National Cherry Blossom Princess Program brochure, which celebrates the 60^th anniversary of the Program, shows a key factor of how a new queen is chosen every year, which many people wonder—it’s simply the random spin of a big wheel that bears the names of all the US states and territories. Read more about the ongoing Cherry Blossom Princess Program run by the nonprofit National Conference of State Societies here.

Katherine’s Highlights

We had the chance to feature a wonderful hanafubuki (cherry blossom blizzard) of Japanese color woodblock prints showing sakura in a variety of contexts from the 18^th to 20^th century. I love this one, by Hiroshige, showing a festive hanami (flower viewing) scene along the Sumida River during the mid-19^th century. It makes me want to join the party with dancing, music, and refreshments being shared among the beautiful blossoms. The waterside trees also remind me fondly of those planted along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, and the tradition of posing there for photos with friends and family, as captured in this sweet portrait of a mother and daughter by Leah L. Jones.

Mari and Katherine told me it was a joy working with the Library’s Publishing Office on this book—with its combination of history, art history, and natural history, and its special story of diplomacy and friendship. Washingtonians and people who visit from around the world can testify that walking among the blossoms brings an annual, springtime re-activation of shared pleasure, goodwill, and optimism. Celebrating all this in book form—how wonderful is that? They feel a special thrill seeing their book in libraries and bookshops, and colleagues and friends send them “shelfie” snapshots when they encounter them out in the wild. “We get really excited each time!”

To continue basking in the world of cherry blossom art, check out:

• Fun facts about cherry blossom traditions 
• Online exhibit Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of Friendship
• Make use of these completely rights-free images in the Free to Use and Reuse: Cherry Blossoms collection

Tell us your favorite cherry blossom experiences. What do you look forward to the most?

There is an absolutely enormous weeping cherry tree in a yard a few minutes from my place that blooms for maybe five days. I anticipate its first blooms more than all the award shows combined. She’s my personal celebrity!