Washington DC [US], March 30 (ANI): Washington’s iconic cherry blossoms were in full bloom on Sunday, drawing locals and tourists to enjoy the city’s seasonal display.
Visitors described the scenery as beautiful and whimsical. One local told ANI, “I love cherry blossom season…Everyone can enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms. Whenever I am walking on the street, and cherry blossom petals are falling, it seems like I am in an anime… It feels so cute and wholesome.”
The National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki to Washington, DC, celebrating the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. The festival now spans four weeks and attracts more than 1.6 million visitors with programming that highlights traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. According to the festival website, most events are free and open to the public.
The original gift arrived after coordination among Japanese and American organizers, including chemist Jokichi Takamine (founder of Sankyo Co., today Daiichi Sankyo), US Department of Agriculture botanist David Fairchild, Eliza Scidmore—the first female board member of the National Geographic Society—and First Lady Helen Herron Taft. On March 27, 1912, First Lady Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees on the Tidal Basin’s north bank in West Potomac Park.
Since then, U.S. First Ladies have often supported the festival. Mamie Eisenhower crowned a festival queen in 1953; Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 Yoshino trees and participated in a 1965 planting reenactment. First Ladies in recent decades have served as Honorary Chair and taken part in events—Hillary Clinton in 1999, Laura Bush in 2001, and Michelle Obama in 2012, when she planted a cherry tree in West Potomac Park.
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