Figure 19. — Mayor Ozaki and daughters among the cherry trees in Potomac Park, 1923. 

 (Courtesy of the Fairchild Tropical Gardens.) 



As time passed, each spring brought forth the rebirth of the beautiful 

 cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin and in East Potomac Park (figs. 21 

 and 22). This annual event became a newsworthy occurrence of inter- 

 national significance, a reaffirmation of the bonds of friendship between 

 Japan and the United States. In 1949, the Cherry Blossom Festival 

 included the selection of princesses from all 48 States and the Territories, 

 with a final choice of a festival queen. 



In 1954, Sadao Iguchi, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, 

 presented an ancient 20-ton ceremonial Japanese stone lantern to Wash- 

 ington. The lantern was thought to have once stood near the Kan'eiji 

 (Temple) in Ueno Park, Tokyo. This particular ceremony also marked the 

 100th anniversary of the first treaty between the United States and Japan 

 signed by Commodore Matthew Perry on March 31, 1854 (59)— a 

 momentous diplomatic event which heralded a new era in the history of 

 the United States and Japan (fig. 23). 



The 1957 Cherry Blossom Festival was especially highlighted by the 

 donation of the Mikimoto Pearl Crown to use annually to crown the fes- 

 tival queen. The crown, valued at approximately $100,000, was made by 

 the same skillful handcraftsmen who made the crown tiara and other simi- 

 larly jeweled ornaments for the Imperial Household in Japan (60). In 

 1965, the Japanese Government made another gift of 3,800 Japanese 

 cherry trees — American grown — to the City of Washington, 700 of which 



24 



