The Cherry-Blossoms in Japan no.2

The passer-by can indulge in a romantic sentiment, resigning himself to the blossom storm and realize his short and beautiful fate. He can taste a sentimental ecstasy watching petals dance, when he identifies himself with the blossoms. He wishes that his end would be beautiful like this. The fall of the blossoms suggests death. So, this emotion aroused by the scene is easily associated with beautiful death, the samurai’s philosophy, which is reduced to the problem how to prepare himself for his death in service of his lord. Therefore, the blossom of feminine appearance traditionally symbolizes the very masculine aesthetics.

The militarist-ruled government did not hesitate to exploit this feeling and to discipline recruits into determined soldiers of suicidal tendency. During World War II, the blossoms were unfortunate to play the leading role as an official militaristic emblem opposite the imperial crest of chrysanthemum, representing self-sacrifice for the divine emperor. The ephemeral beauty of the blossoms induced many soldiers to sacrifice themselves. A good cherry-blossom should fall quickly. Likewise it is un-Japanese for a good Japanese soldier long to survive his comrades. They overcame the horror of death through their identification with the blossoms. Every year, the cherry-trees in Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to soldiers sung or unsung, bloom in memory of their valiancy. A piece of the blossom is a reincarnation of a soldier who fell in battle and was triumphantly received into the Shrine.

In spite of the sorrowful collaboration with the War, I love the literary sentiment that the Japanese hold for the blossoms and am proud of the unique delicacy of the Japanese. We know the glorification of death in terms of martyrdom for religious belief, self-sacrifice for love in Western country, where the glorious death is compensated with garlands. In my knowledge, however, there is no symbolic association between fallen flower and death in Western countries except The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. In the last scene, the old giant meets again a boy under a tree covered with white blossoms, who now presents himself with stigmata on his palms and feet and invites the giant to his garden. In the afternoon, the giant is found “lying dead under the tree, all covered with blossoms”. Although the author did not utterly refer to blossoms in the falling process, it seems to me that the blossoms in the context are more than a shroud of his body, in celebration of his departure for Paradise. While Wilde’s sense may not be very parallel to the proper Japanese one, anyone who loves the scene can understand the Japanese way of appreciating the cherry-blossoms.


今から２５年前にカナダのバンクーバーに滞在中に英会話学校に通っていた。その学校に提出した英作文である。ネタがないというか、日本人はお粗末な語学力から、外国人の偏見に満ちた「日本人論」を結局支持してしまう。私も桜について書くことになった。芸者について作文は書かなかったことだけは誓える。桜、菊、天皇、神風とわれながらあきれるほど陳腐な日本人による日本人論であるが、今にして想えば、恥ずかしながらも懐かしい。

写真はバンクーバーの桜である。日系人の多いバンクーバーで、日本の文化「花見」を楽しむ会のサイトができた。私がいた頃にはそんな光景は見たことがない。カナダの Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Picnic 要するに hanami の会のものである。ゴザではなく、イスに座っている。こんな工夫で日本の花見文化がうまくカナダに移植されていくのかどうか。興味のある方は下をクリックされるとよい。

http://www.boardoftrade.com/sov_page.asp?pageID=1896

バンクーバーの「日本食」のイメージに興味のある方は下をクリックされるとよい。屋台がないのか、お届けにあがるという趣向であろうか。ベントウ・ボックスは１０カナダドルである。酢の物サラダ、カリフォルニア巻き寿司、エビの天ぷらが入っている。現在カナダドルはいくらだろうか。

http://www.vcbf.ca/site_assets/www.vcbf.ca/images/dynamic/Picnic.pdf