Japan gifts 250 cherry trees

Japan has given the United States 250 cherry trees ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, with a planting ceremony held in Washington on Friday. (jiji.com) Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada announced the gift in Washington on April 10, 2026, and said the capital’s cherry blossoms have long symbolized ties between the two countries. (jiji.com) The new donation echoes Japan’s 1912 gift of more than 3,000 trees to Washington, a gesture that began the city’s modern cherry blossom tradition around the Tidal Basin and Potomac Park. (nps.gov) The timing lines up with the United States semiquincentennial, the official 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, 2026. Congress created a national commission for the observance in 2016, and the America250 initiative says the commemoration runs through July 4, 2026. (congress.gov) (america250.org) Washington’s cherry trees already carry diplomatic history. On March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda planted the first two Yoshino trees at the Tidal Basin in a ceremony marking Japan’s original gift. (loc.gov) That original shipment is usually remembered as 3,000 trees, but federal historical records say Tokyo later increased the gift to 3,020 trees across 12 varieties. (govinfo.gov) The trees are also part of an ongoing effort to preserve the lineage of Washington’s blossoms. The National Park Service says horticulturists collected propagates from surviving 1912 trees in 2011 and sent them to Japan to retain the genetic line. (nps.gov) The latest planting ceremony included officials from both governments and local children, according to Japanese news reports from Washington. The event turned a birthday gift into another public ritual built around the same trees first planted there 114 years ago. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp)