Sakura (桜), or commonly known as cherry blossom in English, is one of Japan’s most revered flowers next to the kiku (菊, chrysantemums). It took time over the generations to reach this level, for early in Japan’s history another flower by the name of ume (梅,  plum) held this position beforehand, up until Nara period. From Heian period onward, this appreciation for cherry blossoms “bloomed”; as it was introduced into society alongside the development of new nice fields and crops, its appearance and and traits became very appealing to the mass. Many sentimental feelings, alongside auspicious meanings were tied to cherry blossoms that had influences within society over time. In fact, there is an old poetic line by those of the warrior caste that goes “hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi” (花は桜木, 人は武士), which compares the splendor of their petals in full bloom followed by their sudden withering due to the short life span of cherry blossoms to the glorious feats in battle of the samurai that will inevitably be cut short through untimely death by the blade of their opponents.

The love for cherry blossoms can be seen in paintings, artworks, crafts, and fashion. There is national pride in having images and designs in the liking of this flower, such as when the petals flutter down in the air like light snowflakes. Despite all this, there are situations where people also shown caution regarding the usage of cherry blossoms, to avoid what would be considered bad luck. For example, whereas many cherry blossom motifs were willingly used for clothing, products, and even on the weapons of warriors, there was significant hesitation to use it as a family crest. Why is that?

Some clues are linked to the origin of the cherry blossom. There are different tales that depict this, a few in the form of ancient mythological tales. They are from sources such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, which speak of major deities inhabiting Heaven, while minor deities populating Earth. As tales like these were taken as truth in the past, they in turn shaped people’s minds as societies grew in Japan.

THE BEAUTIFUL SAKUYA

There is a prominent source to how the name “sakura” is linked to the manner in which this flower blooms. It’s tied to the popular tale of a goddess named “Konohana no Sakuya-bime¹” (木花之開耶姫²). Daughter of a mountain god residing in a shrine on Mt. Fuji, Sakuya was courted by and soon married Ninigi no Mikoto, the descendant of the Sun goddess Amaterasu. When Ninigi no Mikoto laid his eyes on her for the first time, Sakuya became immortalized through his statment about her beauty paralleled to blooming flowers which is the highest form since, in a fleeting moment, will eventually disappear like how flowers wither away. As a deity, she is worshipped as the goddess of growth of flowers & plants at the major shrine Fujisan Hongu Asama Taisha (富士山本宮浅間大社), as well as others. She is also recognized as the protector of safe childbirth, and child rearing due to her very strong personality as demonstrated in mythology³.

Here’s where we arrive to a theoretical origin for the cherry blossom. It is said that at one point, Sakuya became possessed by the divine God of Harvest, traveled to the very top of Mt. Fuji and made the flowers there to bloom. This incident is then linked to Sakuya’s name, from which we get a play on this flower’s name in the following case:

• SA = represents the God of Harvest, with “Harvest” pronounced as “sa” (稲)
• KURA = inhabiting a vessel, with the action represented by the phonetic “kura” (座)

The parallel of Sakuya and flowers is that her beauty is liken to that of flowers in full bloom. Yet this moment of beauty is fleeting, as the petals will eventually fall, and the flowers eventually wither away. As fragile as they are, blooming flowers are priceless even if for a moment, making them invaluable more than anything else, even more than a forever-lasting stone.⁴

FAMILY CRESTS

As mentioned earlier, imagery of sakura was very common throughout Japanese culture once it became popular in society. This became even more apparent from Edo period onward. This was also a period when kamon (家紋), or family emblem, became widespread not just amongst the elite, as having such a thing represented the longevity of one’s family line. See, one’s family lineage was valuable, and how this lineage was presented was very important, especially those prestigious ones with long history. Family emblems served this purpose, each using a plethora of imagery from almost anything from nature. These range from mountains, rivers, insects, plants, bird feathers, to even shapes. Through interpretations and varying superstitions, each can have powerful meanings that can bolster a family line’s standing in society, such as longevity, protection against ailments, bravery, and knowledge.

A cherry blossom emblem, on the other hand, was not viewed in the same way. While there is beauty and sutble strength appreciated in the qualities of cherry blossoms, many people were in agreement regarding its dark & its ominous traits in how petals fall off at the same time, which signals how quickly this flower withers away. These traits are viewed as a bad omen when applied to a family emblem, as it could result to one’s family line ending. Thus, historically it was rare for any family to establish any form of cherry blossom family emblem openly as it wasn’t a popular practice. Still, this didn’t stop those who went against the norm and establish an actual cherry blossom emblem⁵.

Here’s a short list of those families who used one of the existing cherry blossom emblems:

• Matsudaira / 松平
• Hosokawa / 細川
• Sengoku / 仙石
• Sakurai / 櫻井
• Yoshino / 吉野
• Yoshida / 吉田
• Aono / 青野
• Masaki / 正木

This is a short list. Note that some of these families, such as the Sakurai family, are main branches. Later, some of them have branch families or extended families that follow suit and use the same emblems, including those cherry blossom emblems.

The following are cherry blossom emblems, from left to right and top to bottom: Sakurai zakura, Sengoku Kuyō zakura, Hosokawa zakura, Sakura, Yama zakura, Edo zakura. From Kamon no Iroha.

Here are a few of the types of cherry blossom emblems used:

• Sakura / 桜
• Sakurai zakura / 桜井桜
• Hosokawa zakura / 細川桜
• Yamazakura / 山桜
• Sengoku Kuyō zakura / 仙石九曜桜
• Edo zakura / 江戸桜

Each of these emblems have a unique meaning behind their design. Let’s take the Sakurai zakura emblem as an example. This presents a sakura growing wild in the mountains with a row of petals overlapping another row. Matsudaira families from old regions called Settsu (area between the north-central part of Osaka and south-eastern part of Hyōgō Prefecture) and Dewa (area in both Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture), whom have roots from the Sakurai clan, had this particular cherry blossom emblem a reserved one behind another that was used as their public emblem. It is thought that the Sakurai clan is connected to the establishment of the Sakurai zakura emblem. Next example is the Hosokawa zakura emblem, which features 5 petals, each with 3 pistils on top. This emblem was used by the Hosokawa family from Kumamoto domain of Higo Prefecture. However, there is another story stating that the Hosokawa family gained this emblem from Matsudaira Tadataka, whose roots are also from the Sakurai clan.

CONCLUSION

As this article comes to a close, I’ll reiterate about how there’s always something interesting to learn when research different topics in Japan’s history, no matter how small or obscure it may seem. Case in point, as the cherry blossom continues to be a flower beloved not just in Japan, but also appreciated by many all around the world, one would think that it’s seen as a flawless creation of life. Yet, there is one point of its qualities that would shun families from representing their own family line. This is due in part to the cherry blossom’s deep connection to auspicious beliefs ingrained in the livelihood of the populous, established by mythological stories once held in high regard as the origins of Japan itself.

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1) Just for additional info, her first original name was Kamuatsu-hime (神阿多都比売) in the Kojiki. Later in the Nihon Shoki, the name was written as Kamiatsu-hime or Kamutaka-ashitsu-hime, as well as Konohana no Sakuya-bime. Seems like the last name sticks out more, thus what she is referred to nowadays. Another completely different name tied to her is “Asama no Ookami” (浅間大神).

2) There are different ways to write her name using kanji, or Chinese characters. Some using kanji for the sake of phonetics, and others that string kanji together to create a uniqe meaning. At the end of the day, there is no one “right” way to write this.

3) In Sakuya’s tale the event where she was pregnant with children between her and Ninigi no Mikoto unfolds as follow. The two had a discussion where Ninigi no Mikoto spoke doubt about the children being that of Earthly status instead of Divine status such as him. In opposition, Sakuya protested that their children will be that of Divine status. To prove this, she holed up in a room, and set fire around herself to demonstrate that only divine children can be born safely under such extreme conditions. In the end, Sakuya successfully gave birth to children that would also be recognized as gods.

4) This refers back to the original tale found in sources such as the Kojiki, when Ninigi no Mikoto seeked out Sakuya to request for her hand in marraige at her family’s shrine, her father presented another daughter named Iwanaga-hime (石長比売) as a better match. While Iwanaga-hime’s qualities were compared to the ever-persistence and long-lasting qualities of stone (which her name implies), Ninigi no Mikoto believed Sakuya’s beauty, likened to flowers, surpassed everything, and refused to accept anyone else besides her.

5) Note that many families possessed more than one family emblem at any given time. So just because a particular family decides to have a sakura emblem doesn’t mean that they have to use it publicly. Instead, they can use one of their other ones, and keep the cherry blossom emblem only for specific occassions.