Cherry Blossom

Sakura is indigenous to the Himalayas, North Bengal (now Bangladesh) and in east Asia such as China, Japan and South Korea. Japan has a wide variety of sakura; more than 305 cultivars can be found there.[citation needed] This is because many were artificially hybridized or grafted by Japanese horticulturalists many centuries ago.

Japan gave 3,000 sakura trees as a gift to the United States in 1912 to celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship. These trees have since lined the shore of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. (see West Potomac Park), and the gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in 1956. The sakura trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival) when they reach full bloom in early spring. Macon Georgia also has a festival for cherry blossoms.

During the Heian Period (794–1191), the Japanese nobility sought to emulate many things Chinese, including the social phenomenon of flower viewing (hanami: 花見), where the imperial households, poets, singers, and other aristocrats would gather and party under the blossoms. The first recorded flower-viewing event took place at Kyoto's Shinsen-en Garden in 812. In China, it was the ume "plum" tree (actually a species of apricot) that was held in highest regard, but somehow by the middle of the ninth century, the sakura had replaced the plum as the favored species in Japan.

Every year the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the sakura zensen (cherry-blossom front) as it moves northward up the archipelago with the approach of warmer weather via nightly forecasts following the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in Okinawa in January and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. It then proceeds into areas at the higher altitudes and northward, arriving in Hokkaidō a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts and turn out in large numbers at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to hold flower-viewing parties. Hanami festivals celebrate the beauty of the sakura and for many are a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. The custom of hanami dates back many centuries in Japan: the eighth-century chronicle Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) records hanami festivals being held as early as the third century CE.

Most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, in many parts of Honshū, the first day of work or school will coincide with the cherry blossom season.