Blossom Pink

Narrative by Madoka Suganuma, Posted June 15, 2026

Photo courtesy of the author

The COLOR CODEX series — to which SEMIOVOX has invited 50 of our commercial / applied semiotician colleagues from around the world to contribute — explores the unexpected associations evoked for each of us by specific colors found in the material world. Vol. 1: 2023–24. Vol. 2: 2026–27.

In spring, around the end of March to early April for Tokyo and its surrounding areas, the cherry blossom trees bloom — and the city is covered in this beautiful blossom-pink color. When in full bloom, it is a very pale pink, almost white. The somei-yoshino is the most common cultivar out of the hundreds of different types of cherry blossoms planted across Japan, developed in the late Edo period and popularized for its beauty. Sakura, or cherry blossoms have a large cultural significance in Japan, and is also considered one of the national flowers.

The blossoms only last for about a week before all the petals fall like snow, so people go out to enjoy this short window, with much enthusiasm, to do Hanami — or flower viewing — either by strolling under the trees or by doing picnics under them, some getting a bit tipsy. There is almost a sense of being on a bit of a high from the short-lived but lovely blossoms.

There is another particular emotion associated with the cherry blossoms being so short lived — Monono aware, which is when one feels a kind of nostalgia, appreciation and a little sadness over the transient nature of life, love and nature. It was described in the poetry and diaries of women in the Heian period, such as in The Pillow Book by Seishonagon and The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. In Japan, March is the end of the school and business year, and so the cherry blossoms mark the season of goodbyes and new beginnings, adding to the bitter-sweet association with the cherry blossoms.

This year I noticed a fake sakura tree being put up in front of the station square around the malls. While quite detailed, impressive and beautiful, I felt that a plastic sakura tree was the opposite of the transience that cherry blossoms represent for me — and felt a sense of sadness for the commercialization of the sakura and all it stands for.

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