Flying kites, watching plays and walking among the beautiful trees are what most people think of when they consider the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
But the festival is a historic event that commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington. The gift honored the friendship between the countries.
The first two trees were planted March 27, 1912, on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park by first lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, according to information from the Official National Cherry Blossom Festival.
In 1915, the United States government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. A group of American schoolchildren re-enacted the initial planting in 1927, and the first “festival” was in 1935. It was sponsored by civic groups in the nation’s capital, according to festival organizers.
What many may not realize, though, is first lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965. In 1981, Japanese horticulturists were given cuttings from the D.C. trees.
In 1994, festival organizers expanded the celebration to two weeks to accommodate the million-plus visitors who travel to it each year.
