CAMP H.M. SMITH (NNS) – The U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) Headquarters received a donation of specially-grown “sakura”, or cherry blossom, trees from the Hawaii Cherry Alley Committee Nov. 10, 2016.
During a tree planting ceremony, Adm. Harry Harris, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command; the Honorable Yasushi Misawa, Consul General of Japan Honolulu, and Dr. Tetsuo Koyama, Director General Emeritus of Makino Botanical Garden, planted the first two trees on the lawn of the Nimitz-MacArther Pacific Command Center, which serves as the USPACOM Headquarters on Camp H.M. Smith.
Additional ceremony participants included Ms. Bruni Bradley, Admiral Harris’s wife, Mrs. Norie Masamitsu, Chair, Cherry Alley Committee, Oahu Subcommittee, Colonel Atsushi Saito, Joint Staff, Ministry of Defense, Japan, Maj. Gen. Kevin Schneider, Chief of Staff, USPACOM, and additional representatives from Japan Ground Self Defense Forces and Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces.
“Sakura” is Japanese for cherry blossom and is the national flower of Japan. It symbolizes beauty, mortality, and a way of life that is traced back centuries. “Hanami,” the flower viewing, is deeply rooted in Japanese culture; serves a day to commemorate the loss of loved ones and reflect on life. The tradition of exchanging trees began in 1912 when the people of Japan presented 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the people of the United States to honor the lasting friendship. The U.S. reciprocated with flowering dogwood trees in 1915. The U.S. celebrates this gift annually each spring at the original location along the Potomac River during the Cherry Blossom Festival.
To mark the centennial anniversary of the initial exchange, the Japanese Consulate began an initiative to bring cherry blossom trees to states across the U.S. in 2011. In order to cultivate and find suitable seeds that could adapt to Hawaii’s tropical climate, Dr. Koyama worked with Hawaii Department of Agriculture in 2011 to grow viable seedlings. The first trees were planted in 2012 during the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival on the big island of Hawaii.
The trees planted at USPACOM are among the first on Oahu. Dr. Koyama expressed his appreciation and honor during the ceremony, stating, “as these trees grow, it demonstrates the strong alliance between the two countries.”
Harris accepted the trees as the symbolic gift they represent. “Planting these sakura trees here today carries on the long tradition of exchanging hardy trees as gestures of friendship and goodwill between the U.S. and Japan.”