this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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Japan is giving the United States 250 new cherry trees to help replace the hundreds that are being ripped out this summer as construction crews work to repair the crumbling seawall around the capital’s Tidal Basin.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement as President Joe Biden welcomed him to the White House on Wednesday for an official visit and state dinner. Biden said the gift is meant to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. in 2026, adding, “Like our friendship, these trees are timeless, inspiring and thriving.”

In 1912, first lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, planted two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River’s Tidal Basin. They were part of the 3,000 such trees Japan gave the U.S. in a symbol of the two countries’ friendship.

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[–] objectionist 67 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

Thank you Japan!

[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It looks like whoever (or whatever) wrote this article, doesn't know that cherry trees and cherry blossoms are two different trees and sort of keeps mixing them throughout the article. I had a feeling that's about what was going on, just based on the title.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 months ago (1 children)

cherry trees and cherry blossoms are two different trees

Do you mean "ornamental" cherry trees and "fruiting" cherry trees? A "cherry blossom" (or "sakura") refers to the flower of a cherry tree, usually of the "ornamental" variety. The article seemed fine to me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They aren't the same type of tree, though. Cherry blossoms don't grow cherries you can put in a pie.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Both kinds of trees have blossoms. Granted, people do call ornamental cherry trees "cherry blossom trees" ... but, technically speaking, a "blossom" is literally the flower of any stonefruit tree.

[–] captain_aggravated 5 points 4 months ago

And cherry wood, prized for its attractive red-orange color and excellent working characteristics, comes from neither. Most cherries cultivated for fruit, or Japanese ornamental/blossom cherries are considered "true cherries," where most "cherry" lumber comes from the black cherry, which is not considered a true cherry.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

But the Japanese Sakura are quite specific.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Yes, they are, which is why the gifting of cherry trees is such a strong symbol of friendship! Experiencing Sakura is uniquely Japanese.

The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, sakura are richly symbolic...

https://doyouknowjapan.com/sakura/

[–] [email protected] 45 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Walking through groves of Sakura, especially when the pedals are falling in the breeze, is a surreal experience. I never get tired of it.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 months ago (1 children)

pedals are falling in the breeze

Yikes, that sounds dangerous! Someone should make an AI generated image of that 😁

[–] Danquebec 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Prompt: Someone walking through groves of flowering trees. The flowers have pedals instead of petals. And pedals are falling from the trees.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, but it seems that one thing all free AI image generators have in common is ignoring the word "pedals" 😮‍💨

[–] Danquebec 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I tried with free generators without success too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

@[email protected] Why can't you guys tell the difference between pedals and petals? Explain yourself!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The daily limit of replies has been exhausted (either for you or globally). Please try again later.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Can you try responding again, now?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Sorry for the confusion! Here's the response:

Apart from the natural variation in the perception of language and interpretation, the AI image generators might be designed with specific parameters or algorithms that prioritize certain keywords or phrases, or they might not have been trained to recognize the distinction between "pedals" and "petals" in the context of describing flowering trees. The AI models are trained on large datasets of images and corresponding captions, so if the distinction between pedals and petals wasn't present in the training data, it might not be recognized in the generated images. Also, free AI image generators might have certain limitations in their models or processing capabilities, which could affect their ability to generate images based on specific or nuanced prompts.

[–] Socsa 27 points 4 months ago

That's pretty cash money of you, Japan.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Love how AP journalists say "Washington" instead of "Washington D.C.", as if the state of Washington doesn't exist.

Even the AP Stylebook recommends just using "Washington" to describe the Capitol because of its "Global recognition", but as one of the 7.8 million Washingtonians who don't live in D.C. on the other side of the country, I absolutely find this shit confusing.

Especially since Seattle's cherry blossom festival starts today, so it would be the right timing for someone to gift us cherry trees if they were going to.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

FYI since you're into this kind of thing, 'the Capitol' refers to the US Capitol building.

'The Capital' means DC, the capital city in this case.

Hope you get some fresh Japanese Sakura. They are amazing.

[–] crazyCat 16 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Why couldn’t they also transplant and save the old trees?

Edit: ok I believe you guys, was just hopeful and curious

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

As the other commenter already said, it is really hard to transplant old trees. Think about how big tree roots get. There is no way to save 100% of a planted tree's roots so cuts have to be made. And by the time you are able to free the tree from the ground, you've often cut too much of its roots for it to survive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

That plus they also have comparatively shorter lifespans.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It is horrendously difficult to move even a single old tree

[–] crazyCat 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Is it? I’ve seen big truck digger attachments and cranes that do exactly that. Maybe they don’t survive it well or are very sensitive or something.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Some species travel better than others! Think a relatively small ball of roots vs a sprawling deep root network.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 months ago

My area had a wind storm years ago and it was enough to kill most of the oak trees (?) in the area. They can be pretty sensitive to stress.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Trees have a life span and they were getting old already.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If you're in SF, there's a map of every tree, so you can check out the blooms if you're in town!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That's awesome! That actually sounds like an app Peter / Miles would have in the new Spider-man games for a side quest... to take pictures of each bloom or something.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Damnit. If I didn't read this just now after dragging my kid on 10 miles of hikes (with his Spidey water bottle!) the last few days, you'd have just given me a plan for today! 😁

But yeah... 100% doing that this weekend in his Spidey gear.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They really want that U.S Steel deal

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Or they are just doing something cool.