日本樱花英文介绍

SAKURA

Sakura is the flower of the cherry trees. "Sakura" refers to the Japanese flowering cherry. Named ‘’Cherry Blossom’’ in English. サクラ（桜、櫻）は、バラ科サクラ属サクラ亜属Prunus subg. Cerasusまたはサクラ属Cerasusの総称である。日本で最も知られている花の一つである

Cherry blossoms are indigenous to many East Asian states including Japan, Korea, and China. Japan has a wide variety of cherry blossoms: well over 200 cultivars can be found there.

Flower viewing

"Hanami"花見is the Japanese traditional custom of

enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost

always meaning cherry blossoms or ume blossoms. From the

end of March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan. The

blossom forecast (桜前線, sakurazensen, literally cherry

blossom front) is announced each year by the weather

bureau, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami

as the blossoms only last a week or two. In modern-day

Japan, hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party

beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. Hanami at

night is called yozakura (夜桜, literally night sakura). In many places such as Ueno Park temporary paper lanterns are hung for the purpose of yozakura.

A more ancient form of hanami also exists in Japan, which is enjoying the plum blossoms (梅ume) instead. This kind of hanami is popular among older people, because they are more calm than the sakura parties, which usually involve younger people and can sometimes be very crowded and noisy.

History

The practice of hanami is many centuries old. The custom is said to have started during the Nara Period (710–794) when it was ume(梅:うめ) blossoms that people admired in the beginning. But by the Heian Period (794–1185), sakura came to attract more attention and hanami was synonymous with sakura. From then on, in tanka and haiku, "flowers" meant "sakura."

Hanami was first used as a term analogous to cherry blossom viewing in the Heian era novel Tale of Genji. Whilst a wisteria viewing party was also described, from this point on the terms "hanami" and "flower party" were only used to describe cherry blossom viewing.

Sakura originally was used to divine that year's harvest as well as announce the rice-planting season. People believed in kami inside the trees and made offerings. Afterwards, they partook of the offering with sake.

Emperor Saga of the Heian Period adopted this practice, and held flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts underneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan.

The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to samurai

society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well. Tokugawa Yoshimune planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

Today, the Japanese people continue the tradition of

hanami, gathering in great numbers wherever the

flowering trees are found. Thousands of people fill the

parks to hold feasts under the flowering trees, and

sometimes these parties go on until late at night. In

more than half of Japan, the cherry blossoming period

coincides with the beginning of the school and fiscal

years, and so welcoming parties are often opened with

hanami. The Japanese people continue the tradition of

hanami by taking part in the processional walks through the parks. This is a form of retreat for contemplating and

renewing their spirits.

The teasing proverb dumplings rather than flowers

(花より団子, hana yori dango) hints at the real priorities for most cherry blossom viewers, meaning that people are more interested in the food and drinks accompanying a hanami party than actually viewing the flowers themselves. (A punning variation, Boys Over Flowers (花より男子, Hana Yori Dango), is the title of a manga and anime series.) Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees! is a popular saying about hanami, after the opening sentence of the 1925 short story "Under the Cherry Trees" by Motojirō Kajii.

Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇Saga-tennō) (786-842) of the Heian Period adopted this custom, and celebrated parties to view the flowers with sake and feasts under the blossoming branches of sakura trees in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan. Poems were written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself; beautiful, but lasting for a very short time. This "temporary" view of life is very popular in Japanese culture and is usually considered as an admirable form of existence; for example, in the samurai's principle of life ending when it's still beautiful and strong, instead of slowly getting old and weak. The Heian era poets used to write poems about how much easier things would be in spring without the sakura blossoms, because their existence reminded us that life is very short: ’’If there were no cherry blossoms in this world

How much more tranquil our hearts would be in spring.’’

Ariwara no Narihira (825 - 880) Hanami was used as a term that meant "cherry blossom viewing" for the first time in the Heian era novel Tale of Genji (花宴Hana no En, "Under the Cherry Blossoms"). From then on, in tanka (短歌) and in haiku (俳句) poetry, "flowers" meant "sakura", and the terms "hanami" and "flower party" were only used to mean sakura blossom viewing. At the beginning, the custom was followed only by the Imperial Court, but the samurai nobility also began celebrating it during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568–1600). In those years, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave great hanami parties in Yoshino and Daigo, and the festivity became very popular through all the Japanese society. Shortly after that, farmers began their own custom of climbing nearby mountains in the springtime and having lunch under the blooming cherry trees. This practice, called then as the "spring mountain trip", combined itself with that of the nobles' to form the

urban culture of hanami. By the Edo Period (1600–1867), all the common people took part in the celebrations, in part because Tokugawa Yoshimune(徳川吉宗, November 27, 1684 - July 12, 1751, the eighth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745.) planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

The blossom forecast is announced each year by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is watched with attention by those who plan to celebrate hanami because the blossoms last for very little time, usually no more than two weeks. The first cherry blossoms happen in the subtropical southern islands of Okinawa, while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom much later. In most large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season normally takes place around the end of March and the beginning of April. The television and newspapers closely follow this "cherry blossom front", as it slowly moves from South to North. The hanami celebrations usually involve eating and drinking, and playing and listening music. Some special dishes are prepared and eaten at the occasion, like dango and bento, and it's common for sake to be drunk as part of the festivity. "Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!" (桜の樹の下には屍体が埋まっている！Sakura no ki no shita ni wa shitai ga umatte iru!) is a popular saying about hanami, after the first line of the 1925 short story "Under the Cherry Trees" by Motojirō Kajii.

Symbolism日本人の精神の象徴

In Japan cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware. The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. There is at least one popular folk song, originally meant for the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), titled "Sakura", and several pop songs. The flower is also represented on all manner of consumer goods in Japan, including kimono, stationery, and dishware.

Cherry blossom is an omen of good fortune and is also an emblem of love, affection and represents spring. Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in art.

During World War II, the cherry blossom was used to motivate the Japanese people, to stoke nationalism and militarism among the populace. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before embarking on a suicide mission, or even take branches of the trees with them on their missions. A cherry blossom painted on the side of the bomber symbolized the intensity and ephemerality of life; in this way, the aesthetic association was altered such that falling cherry petals came to represent the sacrifice of youth in suicide missions to honor the emperor. The government even encouraged the people to believe that the souls of downed warriors were reincarnated in the blossoms.

In its colonial enterprises, imperial Japan often planted cherry trees as a means of "claiming

occupied territory as Japanese space".

ぱっと花を咲かせた後、散ってゆく桜の儚さや潔さが非常に好まれている。古くから桜は諸行無常といった感覚にたとえられており、ぱっと咲き、さっと散る姿ははかない人生を投影する対象となった。江戸時代の国学者、本居宣長は「敷島の大和心を人問はば朝日に匂ふ山桜花」と詠み、桜が「もののあはれ」などと基調とする日本人の精神具体的な例えとみなした。また、潔よさを人の模範と見て、江戸時代以降しばしば武士道のたとえにされてきた。ただし、そのようにすぐに花が散ってしまう様は、家が長続きしないという想像を抱かせたため、意外と桜を家紋とした武家は少ない。明治時代に新渡戸稲造が著した『武士道』では「武士道（シヴ?リー）とは日本の象徴たる桜の花のようなもの」と冒頭に記している。武士道的な美徳を重視した旧日本軍では、潔く散る桜が自己犠牲のシンボルとして多用された（特攻機桜花など）。たとえば「花（華）と散る」という言葉は戦死や殉職の暗喩である。同期の桜の歌も戦中非常に良く歌われた。現在でも、桜は日本人の精神を象徴するものして良く取り上げられる。ウェザーニュースの調査では日本人のおよそ8割が桜をとても好きと答えた。咲いている様の美しさはもちろん、花を咲かすためのみに持てる全ての力を使う生命力の強さに惹かれること、咲いてから散るまでの移ろい行く様に人生や一期一会、幸福、恋愛などを投影すること、咲き終えた後には潔く散る姿を美しいと考えること、そしてこれらを自らに当てはめることは日本人にとって稀ではない。春が日本では年度の変わり目であり、出会いと別れの時期であることもこれらの要因を引き立てている。また近年では、散ることをただ惜しむだけではなく、ひらひらと散る桜を精一杯さいた勲章のようにいうことも多い。現代の歌や文学にもこれらの象徴として多く取り上げられている。また、警察官および自衛官の階級章は、他国なら星形を使うべき所を桜花で表している。これらの職種は国民の生命と財産を守るために命を投げ打つと宣誓しているためである。自衛隊の旗でも、陸海空を問わず、旭日と並んで桜の花を使用した旗は数多い。