Cherry Blossoms: Experience the Soul of Japan at the Source

• Kan Hi-zakura
• Okan-zakura
• Kawazu-zakura • Yoko


Kan Hi-zakura

One of the varieties of wild Japanese cherry that grow in Ueno Park, the Kan Hi-zakura is native to southern China, Taiwan, and Okinawa. It has been cultivated in Tokyo since the later Edo period (1600-1868). Its petals are an exotic shade of beguiling  crimson. It blooms so early that it is sometimes called the “New Year’s Day sakura.” In fact, though, it is not very resistant to the cold, being native to warmer climes. In Ueno Park, Kan Hi-zakura trees can be seen near Benten Hall on Shinobazu Pond and in the plaza around the fountain. They also greet you as you enter the main gate of Tokyo National Museum.

Okan-zakura are the large trees that greet you on both sides as you enter Ueno Park from the direction of Keisei-Ueno or JR Okachimachi Station. This variety is a cultivar derived from a wild species of cherry. It is thought to be a cross between the Kanhi-zakura and the Oshima-zakura. It grows to a height of about ten meters, and with its broad canopy it resembles the Somei Yoshino. Its pink petals are large and rounded, with heavily notched edges that make it easily recognizable. This tree is also known as the Angyo winter cherry, from its origin in the Angyo district of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture.

A cultivar thought to be a cross between the Kan Hi-zakura and the Oshima-zakura. Here is how it got its name. Around 1950, a sapling of the species was discovered in the Izu Peninsula (Shizuoka Prefecture). It was transplanted to the garden of a home in a town called Kawazu, where it started producing large pink blossoms. In Ueno Park, Kawazu-zakura can be seen at the pondside near the Shitamachi Museum and at the entrance to Gojo Shrine.

A cultivar produced by crossing the heat-tolerant Kan Hi-zakura with the cold-tolerant Amagi Yoshino. Masaaki Takaoka, the founding president of a salt manufacturing company in Ehime Prefecture, created the Yoko after spending 25 years trying different combinations of 200 cherry varieties. His quest was motivated by a desire to donate cherry trees all over Japan. He wanted thereby to honor the memory of his students killed in the Pacific War and pray for world peace. In Ueno Park, Yoko can be seen near Kiyomizu Hall and around the Outdoor Stage.

• Yae Beni Shidare
• Somei Yoshino
• Amagi Yoshino
• Yama-zakura • Beni Yutaka


Yae Beni Shidare

A cultivar derived from the Edo Higan cherry. Some varieties of wild Edo Higan have drooping branches and are termed Shidare-zakura (“weeping cherry”). Yae Beni Shidare trees have profuse blossoms of a deepish shade, with fifteen to twenty petals. In Ueno Park, this popular favorite grows in the vicinity of Kiyomizu Hall, the Ueno Toshogu, and the Front Gate of the Former Residence of the Chief Priest of the Kaneiji Temple.

The Somei Yoshino is thought to be a cross between the Edo Higan and the Oshima-zakura. The story goes that it was first sold under the name “Yoshino cherry” by a tree planter of the late Edo period from the village of Somei (in what is now Toshima City, Tokyo). Many years later, a naturalist named Yorinaga Fujino at the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum (now Tokyo National Museum) conducted a survey of the cherry trees in Ueno Park. He discovered a variety  that differed from the wild Yama-zakura common on Mount Yoshino in Nara. To prevent it from being confused with the latter, he named it “Somei Yoshino” after the tree planter’s village. He published his findings in 1900. The Somei Yoshino is the most commonly planted cherry tree in Japan, for several reasons. It blossoms before coming into leaf, and when planted in rows, it creates a glorious spectacle with its large, splendid flowers. In Ueno Park, the Somei Yoshino turns Sakura-Dori Avenue into a blaze of color each spring.

A cultivar produced at the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, by crossing the Oshima-zakura with the Edo Higan. The source of the name, Amagi Yoshino, is twofold. Amagi refers to the Amagi mountains in Shizuoka’s Izu Peninsula, which have provided an abundance of evidence for tracing the Somei Yoshino’s origins. Yoshino was added to make clear the connection with that research. In Ueno Park, the Amagi Yoshino is planted on the  grounds of the National Museum of Nature and Science.

The most familiar wild variety of cherry in Japan, the Yama-zakura has a distribution range extending from the southern Tohoku region (northeast Honshu) to Kyushu. Before the spread of the Somei Yoshino, cherry blossoms were virtually synonymous with the Yama-zakura. In Ueno Park, the “Yama-zakura of Yoshino” can be seen on the Yushima side of the park and by the Grand Fountain. Yama-zakura are also planted around the Kiyomizu Hall and elsewhere. In Tokyo, this variety tends to blossom slightly later than the Somei Yoshino, though in some years it does so earlier. It produces 3-4 cm blossoms that range from white to pink, at the same time sprouting russet shoots.

A wild variety of cherry found in warmer regions: the Izu islands, Shizuoka, and the southern Kanto, including Chiba. The Oshima-zakura produces fragrant-smelling white blossoms as it sprouts new leaves. The leaves, which smell good as well, are salted and wrapped around rice cakes filled with bean paste to create a confection called sakura-mochi (cherry buns). In Ueno Park, many Oshima-zakura are planted around the edge of Shinobazu Pond. They can grow to a height of over twenty meters. Because of their large flowers, they are widely used as a rootstock for cultivars.

The Beni Yutaka has double blossoms with twelve to eighteen petals each. This cultivar was developed in 1961 by Masatoshi Asari, a cherry expert in Matsumae, Hokkaido, by crossing two existing varieties: the Matsumae Hayazaki and the Ryuunin Beni Yae. It is increasingly popular in Honshu thanks to its large, dazzling pinkish-purple blossoms. In Ueno Park, it is planted next to the Outdoor Stage on Shinobazu Pond.

• Ichiyo
• Kanzan
• Shogetsu • Shirotae


Rinnoji Mikuruma-gaeshi

This tall cherry tree growing on the precincts of the Rinnoji temple has large, round double blossoms with five to eight petals each. It in some ways resembles the Murasaki-zakura. The ordinary Mikuruma-gaeshi, widely known since the beginning of the Edo period, is a cultivar of the Sato-zakura, which is derived from the Oshima-zakura. The name Mikuruma-gaeshi literally means “carriage turner.” It originated as follows, according to one story. Two nobles  caught sight of this cherry in flower as they passed in an ox-drawn carriage. They could not agree whether it had single or double blossoms, so they turned back to take a second look. Hence it is also called “Yae Hitoe” — a double-single.

This variety, a cultivar of the Sato-zakura, started spreading in the Kanto region during the Edo period. It is seldom encountered in Kyoto. The blossoms, which have twenty to forty round petals, are pink at the edges but virtually white in the center. A long, leaf-like stamen projects from the heart of each flower, hence the name Ichiyo, or “single leaf.” In Ueno Park, Ichiyo trees are planted by the Hyokeikan and the statue of Prince Komatsu.

Often seen in the Kanto region, this cultivar of the Sato-zakura is one of the best-known double-blossomed cherries. It spread through Japan in the Meiji period (1868-1912) from the banks of Tokyo’s Arakawa River. The Kanzan bears gorgeous reddish-purple blossoms with twenty to fifty petals each. It is highly resistant to cold and insects. This cherry is planted at the edge of Shinobazu Pond, near the statue of Prince Komatsu, and in many other parts of Ueno Park.

This cultivar of the Sato-zakura spread from the banks of Tokyo’s Arakawa River in the Meiji period. The petals on the outside are pink with finely notched edges. Those on the inside are almost white. Each blossom has twenty to thirty petals, with one or two leaf-like stamens. In Ueno Park, the Shogetsu grows between the Boat Pond and Shinobazu Pond. It is also planted next to the intersection west of Shinobazu Pond.

This cultivar of the Sato-zakura spread from the banks of Tokyo’s Arakawa River in the Meiji period. The name Shirotae (“white cloth”) is believed to derive from the snow-white color of the petals. It is first recorded in the late Edo period, though in reference to a different variety from that grown today. In Ueno Park, the Shirotae is planted next to the Shitamachi Museum.

Somei Yoshino in bloom