Now that spring is in the process of springing its way through the Japanese archipelago, the focus turns once again to sakura, or cherry blossoms, which have come to symbolize Japanese tradition and culture.
But an article from Searchina, a Japanese language site which features topics on Korea, has garnered over five-thousand comments on Yahoo! Japan for its outlandish — through possibly scientifically accurate — claims that the not-so-humble Japanese cherry blossom is, in fact, Korean. The article comes after Korean media outlets apparently reported on the topic throughout March, as the blossoms began to bloom in the peninsula.
Yahoo! Japan didn’t disappoint: its sakura-loving nationalists were in full bloom.
From Yahoo! Japan via Searchina:
Korean Media: Cherry Blossoms Originate From Korea! The World Recognizes Them As “The Flower Of Japan”…We Need Efforts To Correct That
As Korea awaits the opening of its cherry blossoms, this year too has seen its fair share of articles that extol the origins of the cherry blossom. On March 9, the Halla Ilbo, which is published by Korea’s Jeju Special Autonomous Province reported that although the cherry blossoms that bloom in Washington were sent there from Japan, in fact, the cherry blossom is native to Jeju Island.
The article explained that the cherry blossoms alongside the Potomac River “had been confirmed as being the same as the Jeju king cherry through a DNA analysis by Korean researchers”.
According to the article, in November last year in Bergen Country, New Jersey, a Korean-style garden was created, and Korean cherry blossoms were planted there; however, this was apparently to correct the fact that the cherry blossoms which famously line the Potomac River are mistaken for Japanese trees. Finally, the article claims that efforts are needed to convey to the world that the cherry blossom actually originates from Korea.
In an article dated March 20, the Korean media outlet NEWSIS touched on the subject of cherry blossoms being native to Korea. The article introduced famous spring tourism spots in Japan, but had no hesitation in explaining that regarding the blossoms that “it is accepted by the scholarly world that they are not indigenous to Japan, but are descended from Jeju Island’s king cherry.
The Seoul Kyongje newspaper reported in an article related to the cherry blossom festival that “the most typical mistake that people make about the cherry blossom festival is that it is part of Japanese culture”.
The article explained that “Japan’s cherry blossoms are not indigenous flowers, they were imported from outside the country. However, after many years of cross-fertilization, it is pretty meaningless to try to distinguish whether a blossom is native to Japan or Korea”. The article insisted that although the cherry blossom festival conjures up images of Japan, cherry blossoms were native to Jeju Island. (Editor: Shin Kang-yu)
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
kon*****:
And? So what? What is this article trying to say?
kok*****:
Ah, so it’s that season already, huh?
This year has really flown by…( ´Д`)y━･~~
yaw*****:
“Sakura of the same year” is the name of an old military song from WWII, wonder if they’re OK with that?
rjh*****:
They didn’t take exception to the fact that the cherry blossom used to be the symbol of the Japanese Empire?
yose*****:
They trot out the same thing every year when it’s cherry blossom season.
kzch狩り:
Isn’t it better to change this from being an article on the origins of the sakura to the origins of the psycho-ra? [note: The netizen plays on the fact that in Japanese cherry blossom is “sakura” but “sakuran” means “deranged” or “confused”.]
sak*****:
Bit early for an April Fool, mate.
SKNAT95773:
So what?
xhx*****:
Who even cares.
yuk*****:
I don’t think it really matters where in the world they have the culture of doing hanami?
There are plenty of examples where in different countries things have happened at the same time.
熱湯代:
They keep going on about origins, but I reckon that it’s just painful for Korea because they don’t have a culture that’s based around the cherry blossom at all.
kka*****:
Sure, sure w They really want anything that’s good about Japan for themselves ～
Thanks for making me laugh again today, Korea.
In the future, just keep doin’ what you do (笑)
kzch狩り:
I say, might I interject?
The cherry blossom is, ummm, used for the rank insignia of both the old Imperial Japanese Army and the modern Self-Defense Forces…?
mimi:
When spring comes, out come the crazies. That’s the level of this article.
猫端会議:
The point is that they’re just not satisfied unless they deny every single one of Japan’s good points.
If they don’t stop being like that, they’ll just be hated.
hir*****:
It’s just nonsense to think that the cherry blossom is only native to Jeju Island.
Blossoms used to flower all over the continent.
Is Jeju Island part of the Galapagos Islands now, or something?….what a load of bull.
red*****:
DNA analysis has shown that the Yoshino cherry and the King cherry are different species, plus it has also pretty much been confirmed that the Yoshino cherry is a hybrid between the double-weeping rosebud cherry and the Oshima cherry.
And anyway, Yoshino cherry is not the only type of blossom….
keel(FA3.6):
This theory shouldn’t really have any basis.
If they discover some new fact, then it’s only reasonable that they should say where they got it from first.
kxg*****
I suppose that cherry blossoms do have something in common with Korea, in the sense that they will die and fall away.
But that’s not where the beauty is.
But, to look at that and they enjoy a good drink probably comes from the same place.
こもれ:
There are more important things for Korean to do than kicking up a fuss about cherry blossom trees and the like.
