Cherry blossoms are becoming extremely popular tattoos among women throughout the western world. Cherry blossoms are regarded as very beautiful and sensual body adornment tattoos. However, before you decide to have a tattoo, perhaps you may like to know a little more about the cultural symbolism and history of this delicate and beautiful bloom.
There are a wide variety of cherry blossoms, known as Sakura, and they are indigenous to many East Asian countries including Japan, China, and Korea. These blooms are particularly symbolic in Japan, where they symbolize the sky due to the way they bloom in cloud like formations. Due to their short life and quick death together with their extreme beauty, they are often associated with mortality.
The symbolic nature of Cherry blossoms often influence Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances, which is where many of todays tattoo artists gain their inspiration. The popularity of these sensuous tattoos among western women is also influenced by the fact that cherry blossoms are symbolic of love, affection and good fortune. There short but beautiful life also represent the transient, fleeting nature of our own lives, and demonstrate the importance of living life intensely, as in the fullness of time, we are only on this earth very briefly.
There are also important links with the Samurai period in Japanese history, and the flowers appear on many objects of the time, such as Kimonos, sliding doors and screens. Even in modern day Japan, the symbol is used widely on consumer goods including clothing and pottery.
Cherry blossoms were painted on the sides of Japanese aircraft during the second world war, before they embarked on suicide missions. Again they would symbolize the fleeting nature of life. The Japanese also believed that the souls of their air crews lost in battle would be reincarnated as cherry blossoms, and Japanese colonialists often planted them to symbolize the territory becoming part of Japan.
In more modern days the Japanese have donated gifts of these trees as tokens of friendship and cooperation. In 1912 Japan gave the United States three thousand cherry blossom trees which were planted in Sakura Park in Manhattan, and which even to this day, produce a spectacular bloom every year.
The decision to have a tattoo is an intensely personal decision due to its permanent nature and the difficulty of having it removed in the future. If you are going to make a decision to adorn your body in this way, I hope that when you come to choose the design for your tattoo, that you now have a better understanding of its symbolism and that you are able to make a more informed choice in selecting an appropriate tattoo to convey your personality and outlook on life.
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