“Cherry Blossoms in Paradise: The Hidden Beauty of Sakura in Hawaii”

Actually, I have no idea what a good title for this piece would be. I have to be honest; I am not good with attention-grabbing headlines. I am not writing for a newspaper after all. It’s just a blog, and here I count myself lucky if you haven’t already closed the blog.

You haven’t? Wonderful! That gives me the chance to chat about Oʻahu’s best-kept secret even though it isn’t actually a secret. Though first things first, I cannot just share a book with you and not let you know where to get yourself a copy. You can get Sakura Obsession right here. It’s a wonderful read of someone’s quest to hunt down Sakura.

O’ahu is home to amazing beaches and emerald green mountains that turn a misty blue in winter. This little island in the Pacific Ocean, perfect as it already is, is also home to Japanese cherry blossom trees, and the history of it is quite an interesting one.

Did that surprise you? It surprised me when I first learned about it.It surprised me in terms of the fact that I have never considered it anywhere near cold enough for cherry blossoms to be able to bud in spring.

Sakura are well-known around the world. May it be for their fragile, momentary beauty, spring foreboding, or the reminder of the fleeting nature of life. Sakura are deeply rooted in Japan’s culture and history, and exactly these roots are the reason why O’ahu is home to such extravagant beauty to be enjoyed from January to March.

Considering the Japanese immigration to Hawai’i with the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in 1868 to work on the plantations for promised food, lodging & medical, Japanese immigrants became one of the largest ethic group in Hawai’i. With these facts in mind, it shouldn’t have surprised me that eventually the Sakura also made its way to the island; however, not all areas of the islands are suitable for Sakura to grow, as they do require chilly nights over a prolonged period of time to blossom. A few select areas, however, do provide suitable conditions, and one man in particular thought it might just work out. I am glad he did and asked a friend to be a good friend.

The first Sakura came to the island from Okinawa. Island to island, kind of sweet and quite special, in my humble opinion. According to what I dug up in historical archives, arrived from Okinawa in the early 1950’s and where brought to Waipio Acres, outside Wahiawā by Choro Nakasone. He gifted the seedlings to his friend, who missed seeing cherry blossoms. The seedlings were planted and taken care of; they grew. Word spread, and people became curious.

Eventually people asked if seedlings were available, and from there the propagation began. Fast forward to today, there are about 500 Sakura on the island, with most of them in Wahiawā. Take a drive and go on a little Sakura Safari on your own. It’s a beautiful area.

Though we are living in the age of social media with everyone sharing and tagging everything, do allow me to remind you to please be mindful when stopping to have a closer look, as most trees are in the yards of the residential areas.

You are welcome to take a closer look, though please do not break twigs or branches off of the trees. Please do not stomp and trample any other plants in order to get a closer look. Please do not shake branches to make the trees rain petals. That seems to have become a real problem in Japan & South Korea with social media content creators, influencers, and everyone in between trying to get the best possible footage of themselves with Sakura. If you are visiting Sakura in Wahiawā or at the Manoa Valley District park, just enjoy them. Treat the outing like you would want visitors to treat your home.

For more hidden gems on the Island of O’ahu, you might want to give this Blog post a read.