(Lyla Normand, 4.2.24, Park in suburban Kyoto )
This photograph was captured during an introspective stroll I took shortly after learning about the history of the famous Japanese cherry blossom, or Sakura, from my host father. I, like many others, only knew them from the pictures—the iconic symbols of Japan, fleeting and beautiful. I was unaware of their rather interesting and at times sorrowful history.
In the age of the Samurai, they were considered an unlucky flower. This shocked me, as they’re so glorified today. But to the Samurai, the Sakura, which so splendidly blooms and quickly dies, represented one who would fall early in battle. It was considered an ill omen for a long period of time. This changed somewhat during WWII, when the government tried to reframe the concept of the Sakura in order to increase morale for the war effort. The government of Japan encouraged boys and young men to take up arms, even if they were to fall in battle, they died young and valiantly just like the Sakura. Indeed at many war memorials throughout the country, Sakura are planted especially to symbolize the sacrifice of those who fell in battle. However my host father informed me of another, somewhat insidious, meaning of the Sakura during wartime. Nearing the end of the war, The Japanese military was encouraging its boy-soldiers, to fight recklessly, almost suicidally, for the glory of the country in the hopes of turning the tides. They likened the sacrifice to the falling Sakura, a uniquely Japanese symbol. The idea was that the boys should die honorably for their country, they bloomed magnificently and should fall like the Sakura flowers for the glory of Japan. And they did. So many of the soldiers who died in WWII were just boys, raised to be soldiers—the so-called “war youth” of Japan.
It was after I learned this grim history that I took this walk and I saw the flowers in a different light. No longer just a thing of ephemeral beauty, I thought of those who may have looked on this grove in the past, trees planted so intentionally, and wondered what they thought when they saw the scattering Sakura. Did a mother ever come here, thinking of her son fighting in the war? Or perhaps a boy-soldier, or maybe a Samurai, or maybe just a family enjoying the beautiful flowers and having a picnic.
