CHERRIES IN JAPAN Everybody admires, in a casual way, the crisp, dainty blossoms of our garden cherries, and the large, rosy ones of certain European ornamental varieties often seen in American gardens. But until one goes to Japan he cannot realise how beautiful a blossoming cherry tree can be, nor what it is really to love the flowers. The native species, Prunus Pseudo-Cerasus, has been specialised in the direction of beauty, according to the ideals of Japanese artists. Grace of line and delicacy of texture and colour have been patiently worked for—not in flowers alone, but in leaf, in branch, and even in bark. The whole tree crowned with its blossoms is the ideal toward which patience and artistic skill have successfully striven for centuries.
"Spring is the season of the eye," says a Japanese poet. The third month is cherry-blossom time, and as the gardens burst suddenly into the marvellous pink bloom all eyes and thoughts are fixed upon them. passionate love for Sakura, the cherry, symbol of happiness, lays hold on all classes alike. In a quiet ecstasy of joy the Japanese people turn out in holiday attire to view wondrous spectacle. 1 t is a great national filte, a time of universal rejoicing.