Spring’s cherry peeps through age’s monastery gates 
Thus it will be seen that in Japan, to regard the 
cherry national flower as symbolic of the national senti- 
ments and traits has a very old beginning and history, 
and the traditional spirit of admiring the ethereal 
beauty and virtue of the particular species of the flower. 
is interwoven into the national characteristics of the 
Japanese people as one of its essential components. 
This nation-wide love of the flower, which borders on’ 
adoration, is revealed in the great popularity of the 
flower, whose unrivalled beauty is represented in the 
literature, arts and crafts of the nation. In this re- 
spect, too, the cherry blossom is decidedly the flower 
of flowers and queen of the Japanese floral realm. 
~25 
