(Photo feature)
WASHINGTON, March 25 (KUNA) -- The Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, features the flowers along the Potomac River, linking the capital to the state of Virginia, attracting large numbers of local visitors and tourists to enjoy the sight, which lasts one month a year.
The cherry blossom season is an annual occasion to celebrate friendship between the American and Japanese peoples.
The connection between cherry blossoms and friendship between the two peoples originated in the story of planting these flowers for the first time on the banks of the Potomac River.
In 1912, Japan gifted 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the United States to be planted in the capital, Washington, and the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland. This gift has since become an annual commemoration of friendship between the two peoples, preserved by nature at the beginning of each spring.
This year, the festival was held from March 20 to April 14 and was described as "one of the greatest spring celebrations in the world." (end) asj.sm