When spring touches the Japanese lands, everything in the landscape changes from pristine white snow to colorful soils that are covered with cherry blossom petals. The blossoming of sakuras is one of the most emblematic symbols of Japan, but behind these beautiful flowers lies an ancient legend that teaches us a great deal about true love.
The sakura, or cherry blossom, is a tree endemic to Japan that blooms announcing the arrival of spring. But beyond being an arboreal species that inhabits that region of the planet, sakuras stand as a profound symbol for the entire Japanese culture. They symbolize the transience of life, because throughout the year the trees gather their greatest nutrients to sprout their white and pink petals in spring. However, the show lasts only a few days, as the flowers then fall to the ground, the very representation that life is ephemeral despite its great beauty.
But in addition, the sakuras have other deep meanings for the Japanese that come from the millennial legend that does not teach about peace and true love. This legend arose in ancient Japan, when feudal lords led great battles for land control. Back then the country was mired in war and sadness reigned.
The legend of the sakuras of Japan
Legend has it that despite the gloomy atmosphere that covered Japan, in the midst of nature rose a beautiful forest that had not been touched by the war. Full of leafy trees that place had survived sadness, but in the midst of it there was an exception. A tree that, although it had great strength in its branches, never flourished, for this reason the forest animals feared it and did not approach it, even the grass did not believe around it.
According to legend, a forest fairy was deeply moved when she saw the gloominess of the arboreal being. She decided to approach him and with noble words she let him know that she wanted to see him flourish like other trees, for this reason she proposed to cast a spell so that he could find the warmth of life, only then could he flourish from the shadows. The spell would last 20 years in which the tree could choose between being human or remaining as a tree, but its mission was to find the emotions that would help it flourish. At the end of this time, if it managed to recover its vitality, it would flourish, however, if it did not, it would die instantly.
The tree accepted and tried to live as a man for a long time, however, he only found a deep sadness when he saw the hatred and the war. He continued to wander as a man without finding in human life anything that could move him to find vitality. But one day while walking towards a crystal clear stream to rest, he observed in the distance a beautiful young woman carrying water. Impressed by her beauty, the tree-turned-man decided to approach her and ask her name, so he knew her name was Sakura.
The young woman was very kind to him and to reciprocate her, he decided to help her carry the water to her home. Along the way, they sadly conversed about the war and the gloomy atmosphere that pervaded ancient Japan. When the young woman asked the name of the tree, it did not occur to him to say anything other than ‘Yohiro’ which means ‘hope’.
Over the next few days, Sakura and Yohiro met to talk, sing, and read poems about hope and books with wonderful stories. Little by little love arose and one fine day Yohiro confessed who she really was; a tormented tree that would soon reach its death because it had not managed to flourish yet. Sakura, very impressed, remained silent, the 20-year term was about to expire.
Then Yohiro took the form of a tree again, he had not achieved his goal and on the contrary, he felt sadder each time. But one afternoon Sakura came up to him and with great impetus hugged him to confess that she loved him too. At that moment, the forest fairy appeared again and told Sakura to choose between remaining human or merging with Yohiro in a tree form.
Sakura meditated for a moment and remembered the desolate fields of the war, without saying a word she chose to merge with her great love forever. Then Yohiro finally found the warmth of life and together, united in the same being, they managed to flourish. Since then, love perfumes the fields of Japan in the form of sakuras, a symbol that reminds that war only brings sadness and instead love, full of colors and warmth to the heart.
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