Cherry blossoms are very popular in my country Japan. It is considered a symbol of Japanese beauty. Every year when spring approaches, every newspaper, every radio and television station start to forecast a prospective flowering day. When I say I’m Japanese, people instantly assume that I adore cherry blossoms like most Japanese do. Well, I don’t.

To be honest, I’m a bit cynical about all the fuss about cherry blossoms in this country. Yes, those pale pink flowers are quite pretty. But what about wisterias? Hydrangeas? Irises, lotuses, peonies, camellias or chrysanthemums? I personally prefer jacarandas to cherry blossoms. Why do we care so much about one particular species of tree just for a few weeks of a year? I think cherry blossoms are overrated just because its flowering season coincides with the school calendar of this country. In April people start new lives: new school, new company or new apartment… A symbol of spring after a long winter? I don’t like such petty sentimentality. 

The other reason why I don’t particularly like cherry blossoms is personal… The peak season of cherry blossoms coincides with my birthday. 

I was rather proud of that synchronicity when I was a child. I used to got thrilled to see cherry blossoms about to bloom as my birthday approached. It seemed to be a special celebration for my anniversary. 

However, that feeling started to wither after I hit 20. It had turned into a reminder of my aging rather than the sign of spring. 

What irritates me the most was the fact that cherry blossoms repeat the same cycle every single year. And it stays as beautiful as it was the year before. I didn’t like that. I felt like I was the only one who was stuck in one place and getting old. I felt frustrated since I felt I have achieved nothing particularly meaningful in the previous year. That irritation kept increasing year by year. 

While I was living in outside Japan for four years, I felt so relaxed because I didn’t have to go through that springtime agony. 

I know, I’m just making a silly rant about my feeling towards the rosebushes which have been planted only 200 years ago. (Yes, the cultivation of Yoshino cherry, the most popular species in Japan, has started only 2 centuries ago. So it is not so really a historical or traditional plant in terms of archeobotany.)

I can’t completely ignore cherry blossoms however. After all, it gives us a great excuse to get together and have a party under the trees which is called Hanami. I’m not so dogmatic as to be against such occasions. I’m just saying we should appreciate other flowers as well so that we can do Hanami parties more often and I can forget about my getting old.