National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, D.C

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C. commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington. Mayor Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and also celebrate the continued close relationship between the two nations. In a ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the…