A Breath of Fresh Air

"Cherry trees awaken en masse from their winter slumber by transforming magically into something that resembles a light pink luminous cotton candy stuck on giant wooden Popsicle sticks. Walking down a street lined with cherry blossoms in full bloom could soften even the coldest of hearts with a wondrous euphoria. As the white petals fall delicately with every gentle breeze, one is reminded that few things in the world are more dazzling and wondrous for their simplicity."

I tried to write about the wonder of cherry blossoms, how beautiful they are, and the lightness of everyone when they begin to bloom, but I was having a difficult time conveying their mighty influence.  Then I read this.  And I thought it was spot on.  





Spring is abloom in South Korea!  Roads are lined with the pink cotten candy trees and when you look out across the landscape, you can spot every cherry blossom tree in sight.

It's beauty is unspeakable, in ways, and the first cherry blossom I saw damn near brought a tear to my eye.  I couldn't think of a better way to wake up from a dreary, ho-drum winter than with an EXPLOSION of native plants that freshen the air and reinspire hearts.


Needless to say, I couldn't help but dance about it. 

 

It was a lovely day.

Cherry Blossoms are indigenous to East Asian countries, inluding Japan, Korea and China.  They are often associated with Japanese culture and they are a paramount symbol to many aspects of Japanese life. It is not the national flower of Japan, as many think, but they do take on a de-facto role of the national flower, being such an influential force in art, literature and ideology.

Two of my friends here, whom I adore, spent a few years in Japan before coming to Korea.  After Korean class last Saturday, we decided we couldn't let a nice day go to waste, so we picked up a deck of cards and hightailed to the park to sit under a blooming cherry blossom tree and enjoy the day.  They told me about an activity in Japan known as "hanami".  In the Japanese language, "hana" means flower and "mi" means viewing, so the practice of hanami is quite literally the act of viewing flowers.  Every spring, when the blossoms begin to emerge, people across the country take part in hanami by finding a nice blooming tree to sit under with friends and loved ones and they soak in the fresh feelings of the beginning of spring.

The Japanese culture value the cherry blossoms for not only their aesthetic beauty, but also for their powerful, graceful, and short life.  The blooms come out in full force, piercing awe into all who see them.  They do not stay for long though, and they begin to fall from the trees, one by one, to make room for the next phase of the tree's life.  In a similar way, traditional Japanese samurais preferred to kill themselves than at the hands of an enemy, life being considered a transient experience.  Kamikaze flyers in WWII took branches of cherry blossoms with them on their suicide missions, to embark on their falling, like the petals from the tree, in order to begin a new phase of life.  The unity of the Japanese people is embodied in the cherry blossoms, blooming together and falling together.

The symbolic nature of the cherry blossom was not limited to the Japanese homefront.  When Japan occupied Korea from 1910-1945, they planted cherry blossoms in an act of "claiming their territory".  Although there are cherry blossoms native to Korea, the trees were planted by the Japanese in huge quantities and were placed strategically throughout Korea.  They planted cherry blossoms in sacred places such as temples and national cemeteries to drive home the reality of their occupation, to try and suffocate any Korean attempts at a national identity.  The city I visited for the festival, Jinhae, holds the largest Korean cherry blossom festival each year and attracts tourists from all over the world.  The reality of the cherry blossoms littered through this beautiful city is that the Japanese used it as a navy port, it being located on the east coast of Korea, and planted the trees anywhere they could. 

Thus, at the eve of every spring, the cherry blossoms bloom and are, for many, a reminder of a dark past.  As I wandered around the festival in Jinhae, I came upon rows of black and white pictures hung up on clothesline depicting bloody scenes from war.  I watched as older Korean men walked up and down the lines of photographs, their hands folded behind their back, as they remembered the struggles of their country, of their lives.  An overwhelming sense of....(something...)....came to me as I stepped back and saw this scene, juxtaposed with a young, idealistic American girl with the world at her fingertips.  There are words, but none to write here now.

For the decades since Korean independence, many cherry blossoms have been chopped down due to their stark and undeniable association with Japanese occupation.  There are radicals who denounce the annual festivals, claiming that the festivals were not tradition prior to Japanese rule.  Some say that the cherry blossoms should be uprooted, regardless of their beauty.

Of course, one can understand the bitter feelings many people have towards the occupation and the lingering reminders of that past.  However, it is difficult to argue against the natural beauty of the cherry blossoms, how they signal the beginning of spring and relieve us from the dark and cold winter days.  Perhaps the cherry blossoms represent a bumpy road toward reconciliation of a past that cannot be changed.  A young idealistic American girl stood alongside a man who defended his country and traditions; both appreciating the splashes of pink painting the country side; both having air light petals sprinkled on their heads as they walk down the street; both taking a deep breath of fresh air after a long winter; both standing in awe of a tree that cannot take sides in politics.