Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Meaning

The Japanese cherry tree blooms for one or two weeks a year and then drops all its petals at once. That is the point: the flower does not mean beauty, it means that beauty comes to an end.

What it represents

• Impermanence. The Japanese concept of mono no aware: the wistful feeling toward things that pass.
• Renewal. It marks the start of the school and work year in Japan.
• Living in the present. If it does not last long, you have to be there now.

Hanami

It is the custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat and have a drink, and it is more than a thousand years old. It is not a tourist attraction: it is a mass social practice, with dedicated weather forecasts tracking the bloom front as it advances from the south to the north of the country.

Where to see it in Buenos Aires

The Japanese Garden (Jardín Japonés) in Palermo has cherry trees that bloom between August and September — our spring, flipped relative to Japan. The window lasts two or three weeks and shifts every year depending on the winter. If you are interested, check before you go.

It is worth mentioning the city's other floral spectacle, which is longer and easier to catch: the jacarandas in November. We cover it in spring flowers in Argentina.

As a cut flower

It is not sold commercially in Argentina: the flowering branches do not survive transport and the bloom is too brief to produce. If the symbolism is what you are after, a bonsai —even of another species— conveys the same idea of time and care much better.