The Sakura Legend begins hundreds of years ago in ancient Japan, at that time the feudal lords of the time fought terrible battles, in which many humble fighters died, filling the whole country with sadness and desolation.
The moments of peace were very rare. As soon as one war ended and another began, however, there was a beautiful forest that even the war could not touch.
- It was full of deciduous trees that exhaled delicate aromas and comforted the tormented inhabitants of ancient Japan.
- No matter how many battles there were.
- None of the armies dared destroy such a wonder of nature.
In this beautiful forest, however, there was a tree that never bloomed and, although it was full of life, the flowers never appeared on its branches.
So he looked thin and dry, as if he were dead, but he wasn’t. He simply seemed doomed not to appreciate the color and aroma of the flowers.
“All we know about love is that love is all there is” – Emily Dickinson-
The tree was very lonely. The animals did not approach her for fear of being infected by their strange illness, for the same reasons the grass around them did not grow either, loneliness was their only companion.
Sakura legend has it that a forest fairy was moved to see this tree that looked old, even though he was young.
One night, the fairy appeared near the tree and, in noble words, said he would like to see her beautiful and radiant. She was willing to help make that happen. Then he made a proposal. She, with her power, would cast a spell that would last 20 years, during this time the tree could feel what the human heart feels, perhaps that way she could become emotional and perhaps flourish again.
The fairy added that, thanks to the spell, she could transform both as a plant and a human being, without distinction, when she wanted, however, if she did not regain her vitality and radiance more than 20 years ago, she would die. Immediately.
As the fairy said, the tree saw that it could become a human being and become a tree again whenever it wanted, tried to stay long as a man, to see if human emotions helped its goal flourish. The beginning was a disappointment.
As much as he sought, he only saw hatred and war around him, and then he became a tree again for a long time. Months passed and so did the years; the tree continued as usual and found nothing in the man to free him from this state.
However, one afternoon, the tree became human, headed towards a crystalline stream and saw a beautiful young woman, it was Sakura, impressed by its beauty, the tree transformed into human approaches.
Sakura was very kind to him. In response to his kindness, he helped him bring water to his nearby home, they had a lively conversation in which they both spoke sadly about Japan’s war situation and the great dreams they had.
When the girl asked her name, the tree ended up saying it was “Yohiro,” which meant “hope. “They both became very close. They met every day to talk, sing and read poems and fantastic storybooks.
The more I knew Sakura, the more I needed to be by his side. He counted the minutes to meet her.
One day, Yohiro could not bear it and confessed his love to Sakura, he also confessed who he really was: a tormented tree, which would soon die because it had not blossomed. Sakura was very impressed and remained silent.
Time passed and the 20-year period came to an end, Yohiro, who took the form of a tree, felt increasingly sad.
One afternoon, when he least expected it, Sakura approached him, hugged him and told him that he loved him too, he didn’t want him to die, but he didn’t want anything bad to happen to him either.
Then the fairy reappeared and asked if Sakura wanted to remain human or if he wanted to merge with Yohiro in the shape of a tree.
She looked around and remembered the sad war camps, then decided to merge with Yohiro forever and the miracle happened. Both have become one and the tree flourished.
The word Sakura meant “cherry blossom,” but the tree didn’t know it. Since then, his love has scented the Japanese countryside.