Cherry Women, Cherry Men

Writer and translator Stephen Henry Gill and composer Malte Jaspersen profile the national love affair of the Japanese with cherry blossom. Every winter, in a look towards spring, the Sakura Zensen, or Cherry-Blossom Front, sweeps at about 8mph across Japan. Its arrival is followed on television and the country gradually submerges beneath a sea of pale pink blossom, engendering nationwide revelry. There are many stories, poems and songs, both ancient and modern, inspired by the Cherry Blossom Front, and people gather to drink and sing under the flowering boughs.

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