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Yamazakura, The Mountain Cherry Blossom.
The Yamazakura, Mountain Cherry blossom is held in high regard by the Japanese people.
These are the opening words of one of the most famous poems in Japanese history, a tanka by Edo era scholar Motoori Norinaga which was later used, among other jingoistic purposes, to fortify the spirits of Japanese kamikaze pilots during World War II. A testament to its power as an enduring instrument of Japanese patriotism, it hangs, written in gorgeous calligraphy, on a scroll in the atrium of the Yushukan war museum on the grounds of the Yasukuni War Shrine in Tokyo.
敷島の 大和心を 人問はば
朝日に匂ふ 山桜花
shikishima no yamato-gokoro o
hito towaba asahi ni niou
yamazakura-bana
My best translation is:
If someone inquires about the Japanese soul of these Blessed Isles, say mountain cherry blossoms,fragrant in the morning sun.
It is no coincidence that the first four kamikaze units ever created were named "Shikishima," "Yamato," "Asahi," and "Yamazakura."
Yamazakura , the home of Japanese Antiques.
