It’s Cherry Blossom Season And The Photos Are Gorgeous

During springtime in Washington, DC, tourists flock to see the beautiful cherry trees in full bloom. These trees, which were gifted to the US by Japan as a symbol of friendship in 1912, have become just as renowned as the original blossoms in Japan. In response, President William Howard Taft sent flowering dogwood trees back to Japan as a gesture of goodwill.

The cherry trees have become an iconic part of the DC skyline and represent the strong bond between Japan and the US. Unfortunately, during the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, some of the branches of these trees were damaged as an act of retaliation. However, Japanese horticulturalists were able to restore some of the lost trees in Japan by using hundreds of cuttings from the cherry trees in Washington, DC, after a devastating flood in the 1980s.