Cherry blossoms at Sanrizuka—as seen after spring showers 
poems or of paintings, may sound very poetical and 
may indeed be lovely and fascinating, yet nothing can 
compare with the unforgetable sight of cherry flowers 
glowing in the morning sun. The scene borders on the 
sublime. 
Cherry flowers look most beautiful, not when they 
are in full bloom, but when some six-tenths or seven- 
tenths of the flowers have burst forth, with the rest 
still in bud. This is particularly so with mountain 
cherries. The sight of a mountain cherry putting on 
its robe of snow-white flowers fringed with lovely, 
tender, young, crimson-coloured leaves is indeed beauti- 
ful, and nothing can excel it. 
A single branch of flowering cherry in a vase does 
no justice to the real beauty of the flower. The oft- 
48.~ 
