Spring in Japan is a season filled with the color of the "sakura" cherry blossom. "Sa" represents the deity of the rice paddy, and "kura" means a place of rest. When the deity of the rice paddy comes down to the village in the month of March, the life force built up in the mountains during the winter becomes the rice sprouts in the spring that ripen in May. In the days immediately before rice seedlings begin to grow, while the deity rests, flowers blossom with a light crimson hue. This is why they were given the name "sakura." Thus, the beauty of the sakura cherry blossom conveys a uniquely Japanese sense of about the cycles of nature.

TAG Color in Japan