Kyoto Sakura Splendor
Interview with the 16th Toemon Sano, Japan's famous “Cherry Tree Doctor”
(This article was first published in the KVG April, 2012)
Since the start of the Heian period (794-1185), the most-anticipated spring event in Japan has been cherry blossom viewing or hanami. Kyoto is home to many famous cherry blossom viewing locations. The city also has its share of especially well-known individual trees. The most celebrated of them all is the magnificent weeping cherry tree or shidare sakura in Maruyama Park which has long enchanted visitors.
The care of this immense tree, which is slowly shrinking, is the responsibility of Toemon Sano who is known as the Sakuramori or "Cherry Tree Doctor". If you are in Kyoto in the end of March or in the early April, be sure to make a special visit to see this remarkable tree in its full glory.
Magnificent Shidare Sakura (weeping cherry tree) in Maruyama Park
Born in 1928 in Kyoto, Toemon Sano is the 16th generation head gardener of the Ueto Gardening Company. “Toemon” is the name inherited by the successive heads of the Sano family. The current Toemon is 84 years old (as of 2012). He has designed many renowned Japanese gardens in Japan and overseas, including the garden at the headquarters of UNICEF, for which he received a special medal in 1997. He has also inherited the title of Sakura-mori (cherry tree doctor), previously held by his father and grandfather. His grandfather noticed that important cherry trees all over Japan were getting sick and decided to specialize in keeping such trees healthy. Caring for Maruyama Park’s huge weeping cherry tree is one of the current Toemon’s responsibilities.
KVG: What type of cherry trees can be enjoyed in Kyoto?
Sano: Cherry trees grow wild all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. There are only a few natural kinds like the early-flowering Higan Zakura (the equinox cherry, which blooms around the vernal equinox, or March 21) and the Yama Zakura (mountain cherry).
All other cherry trees, like the widely popular Somei Yoshino, are hybrids that were first developed about 150 years ago.
Kyoto’s climate is ideal for cherry trees and they can be found in nearly every part of the city. This means that you can enjoy hanami cherry blossom viewing almost anywhere you go in the city.
Kyoto is the only Japanese city with a population over one million where you can actually see the bottom of the rivers and the mountains are so close to the city.
KVG: How do you take care of cherry trees?
Sano: To keep cherry trees at their very best you need to keep an eye on them throughout the year. It’s like raising children. Unfortunately, I have many sick children all over Japan. The main cause of this sickness in cherry trees is that the ground water is polluted. To live long and remain healthy cherry trees require clean water. This is becoming increasingly difficult in urban environments.
When I come to care of a cherry tree, I feel like I am “meeting” them. When they require my help, I do whatever I can. Often this involves soil enrichment processes. I get a huge sense of satisfaction when I see cherry trees that are healthy and thriving again.
KVG: As a person who has been trained in traditional ways by previous generations, what are your feelings about modern Japan?
Sano: Sad as it may seem, I feel that modern Japanese ways, most of them based totally on Western ideas, have for the most part killed Japan’s original traditional culture. Nearly everything that was unique about our civilization has been abandoned. We have stopped wearing our traditional clothing, the kimono. We have largely given up our traditional rice-based diet in favor of meat, bread and pasta. And we have stopped living in homes made of natural materials like mud, wood, bamboo and tile.
Today, people are far too concerned with the pursuit of a more comfortable life. Most of this comfort is based on machine culture. We have lost the wisdom of our ancestors. The biggest problem is that we are too easily satisfied by Western ways of thinking. The Japanese education system has stopped teaching our children the origins of Japanese culture.
Everything in Japanese culture comes from and is intimately connected with the rice growth cycle. Young people today have no idea how rice grows and so they know almost nothing about their own culture. Rice matures through a series of key seasonal stages. Children should know and experience all of them. To get back on the right track, we should look to nature, as we always have. Nature determines what is possible and correct for human beings.