Latest news with #Asari
Asahi Shimbun
23-06-2025
- General
- Asahi Shimbun
At 94, Hokkaido man still sends cherry trees of peace to world
MATSUMAE, Hokkaido—A cherry tree at a convent in Poland had bloomed pale pink flowers every April for nearly three decades before Masatoshi Asari, a Hokkaido-based researcher, learned about the blossoms. He immediately thought the tree was a 'miracle.' The cherry tree is a Yae-zakura variety called Beni-yutaka, which is vulnerable to cold temperatures, like those in the East European country. And it was Asari who had sent that cherry tree to the Polish convent. But the tree represents much more than just resilience to frigid temperatures. The tree symbolizes Asari's abhorrence of blind obedience displayed in Japan during World War II and reflects his deep admiration of a priest who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Holocaust. The cherry trees that Asari, 94, produces and sends overseas have become international messages of peace. CONNECTED THROUGH FATHER KOLBE Asari, who lives in Nanae, Hokkaido, has long been selectively breeding cherry tree varieties that can grow in cold regions. In 1987, he received a request from a Japanese Catholic who said she wanted to plant cherry trees at a convent in Poland founded by a priest whom she deeply admired. The priest was Father Maximilian Kolbe, who was killed by the Nazis after volunteering to die in place of another prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was canonized after World War II ended. Asari was only happy to oblige and sent more than 300 seedlings to the Niepokalanow monastery near Warsaw. He received a similar request to send trees to Poland from the Franciscan Sisters of Militia Immaculata in Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture, whose members follow the teachings of Kolbe. Asari delivered 40 seedlings, many of which were wild species native to Hokkaido, to the St. Maximilian convent in Strachocina in southeastern Poland. The convent is located farther north than Wakkanai, the northernmost municipality in Japan. One of the seedlings was the surviving Beni-yutaka cultivar. CHILDHOOD DURING WAR Asari was born the second son of a farming family in the village of Ono, present-day Hokuto, near Hakodate, Hokkaido. Back then in Japan, dying for the emperor was likened to the graceful falling of cherry petals. 'At the time, I didn't think cherry blossoms were beautiful because they were used to promote the idea of dying for the country,' Asari recalled. After the war ended, Asari's image of cherry blossoms changed when he studied under botanist Shigezo Sugawara at college. Sugawara gave him cherry samples and told him to thoroughly study the plant. Asari started his research into cherry tree breeding while working as an elementary school teacher in Matsumae. Although the town is located on the southern end of Hokkaido, it is severely cold in winter. Still, Asari found Yae-zakura varieties among Oyama-zakura and other wild cherry species that had apparently been brought over from the main Honshu island. Asari determined the characteristics of each variety and created more than 100 cultivars. 'Cherry blossoms are cherished across borders and help people relate to one another,' Asari said. Out of remorse for World War II, he has been giving cherry seedlings to Asian and European countries. He sent them to Poland in the late 1980s so that he would not forget Japan's alliance with the Nazis, who invaded and tormented the Polish population. However, he had no idea what happened to his cherry trees until autumn 2021. He received word through Naoko Abe, a British-based nonfiction writer who has been covering Asari's work. She visited Strachocina and found three cherry trees were still standing at the convent. Asari received leaf samples from the trees and confirmed they were from wild species Chishima-zakura and Miyama-zakura cherries, in addition to Beni-yutaka. PLANS FOR UKRAINE In April last year, Sister Klara Maria Machulska, 40, head of the convent, met a group of pilgrims from neighboring Ukraine in front of the Miyama-zakura tree. When she told them about the origins of the cherry tree, the group said they also wanted a tree symbolizing peace. Ukraine, which continues to battle Russian invaders, contains regions at higher latitudes and with colder weather than Strachocina. Still, Asari said, 'I'd like to give (cherry seedlings) once peace is restored in Ukraine.' This year, Hana-temari, a Yae-zakura variety that Asari developed that is said to be resistant to severely cold temperatures, bloomed again in his garden. He hopes it will serve as a messenger of peace in Europe. 'Asari has been delivering messages of peace and friendship to the world through cherry trees,' Abe said. The Japanese edition of her new book, 'The Martyr and the Red Kimono,' will be published in Japan in July from Iwanami Shoten.
Hindustan Times
15-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Teen behind Air India crash viral video thought plane ‘was going to land'
A 17-year-old Aryan Asari, the boy who recorded a viral video of the Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday, said that he thought the aircraft was "going to land", but instead it crashed and went up in flames. Police treated the teen as an eyewitness to the tragedy and recorded his statement on Saturday. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch said he came with his father to give the statement. Air India's AI171 Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel complex of BJ Medical College in Meghani Nagar within minutes of its takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The tragedy claimed the lives of 241 aboard the aircraft, leaving just one survivor. Additionally, more than 20 persons present on the ground at the time of the incident also lost their lives. A total of 270 persons were killed in the plane crash. Aryan Asari's video gave the initial perspective of the incident. Speaking to news agency ANI, he said that as the plane was passing from a very close range, he thought of shooting a video to show to his friends. He had gone up to the terrace to witness the low-flying aircraft. "The plane went downwards, and I thought it was going to land as the airport was nearby. But when it went down, flames started coming up, and we saw that it had exploded," Asari said. The teen recalled how "scared" he felt in that moment, and said he showed the video to his sister, and told his father about the same. Earlier, his sister told news agency PTI how Asari expressed his wish not to live in the area anymore as "it is dangerous". Asari on Sunday returned to his native village in Aravalli district to resume his class 12 studies. The teenager arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12, the same day as the plane crash, to purchase textbooks. "I cleared the class 11 exam last month and secured admission in class 12. I came to Ahmedabad on June 12 to purchase textbooks. I reached my father's rented house at around 12:30 pm," Asari said. Aryan Asari's father, a retired Army personnel, had recently taken up a job as a security guard with the Ahmedabad Metro and was living at a rented accommodation in the Meghani Nagar area. The owner of the rented home, Kailashba, also commented on Asari's experience and said, "He had come to Ahmedabad for the first time and within hours of his arrival, he ended up witnessing such a horrific event. The video he captured was initially sent to his father and later went viral". Meanwhile, an official on Sunday said that the identities of 47 victims have been matched through DNA testing, and bodies of 24 have been handed over to their respective families.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Time of India
Week after being run over by constable, cop dies in hospital in Ahmedabad
1 2 Ahmedabad: A police constable from Ellisbridge police station, Sanjay Asari, 32, died on Friday while undergoing treatment at SVP Hospital. He was injured in a road accident caused by another police constable from Madhavpura, Yuvrajsinh Vaghela, 34, who was allegedly drunk when the incident took place near Bakra Mandi in Ranip on the night of May 31. According to the police, Vaghela was driving a car at high speed when he lost control and hit two two-wheelers, a handcart, and a woman standing by the roadside. Among the injured were 60-year-old Kanji Parmar, a resident of Ranip, 50-year-old Mumtaz Sheikh, and Asari, a resident of Ranip police line who was on his walk during the accident. Vaghela's car later crashed into a wall. Residents caught Vaghela and reported that he was under the influence of alcohol. Vaghela revealed he was a police constable and threatened the crowd before fleeing the spot on foot, leaving the vehicle behind. The car did not have numberplate on the front. Ranip police later arrested Vaghela from his native place, Surendranagar. He was brought to Ranip police station in a PCR van. While in custody, he allegedly tried to escape by faking illness. An inquiry was ordered against the police personnel who were on duty at that time. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Promoções imperdíveis de voos baratos Voos | Anúncios de Pesquisa Saiba Mais Undo Following Asari's death, police added charges of causing death by negligence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Vaghela was handed over to the L Division traffic police for further investigation. The vehicle was seized as part of the investigation, and the cop underwent medical tests which confirmed he was drunk at the time of the accident. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
Japan Times
09-04-2025
- General
- Japan Times
The man who sent Japan's cherry blossoms out to the world
Almost every day for the past seven decades, 94-year-old Masatoshi Asari has dedicated himself to creating, growing and disseminating many of the world's most distinctive and diverse cherry trees. One of Japan's foremost living authorities on cherry trees and their blossoms, the wiry, weather-beaten Asari is a walking encyclopedia about sakura. When he leads small groups through Matsumae Park on the southern tip of Hokkaido, he comments at length on the heritage of each cherry variety as if they were his children, which, in a sense, they are. Matsumae Park is Asari's creation. Each spring, more than 10,000 cherry trees bloom on its slopes overlooking the Tsugaru Strait. There are few more breathtaking sights than the multicolored canopies that stretch over miles of meandering paths. Many of these cherries are the offspring of the 116 cultivars that he has created. As a group, these are known as Matsumae-zakura or Matsumae cherries. No one in the world has created so many varieties. Yet, to Asari, a former primary school teacher and World War II historian, the cherry trees themselves are just one aspect of his passion. Equally important is what cherry trees symbolize for Japan and the world. In the late 1950s, when Matsumae town asked Asari to create a small botanical park, he spurned the request. Instead, with the support of Hokkaido's governor, Asari turned the land into a sprawling cherry park as a symbol of international peace and friendship. The park opened in 1965. Remorseful about Japan's aggression during the war, Asari wanted to atone. Tens of thousands of Chinese and Koreans had been brought to Hokkaido to work in coal mines and on railway construction sites during the war, and many didn't survive. Allied soldiers captured in Asia and sent to Hokkaido had also been forced to work in inhumane conditions. After researching Hokkaido's role in the war, Asari decided to send cherry trees to the countries from which the laborers came. Between the 1970s and the 1990s, Asari sent hundreds of trees to China, North Korea and South Korea. His gifts to Beijing and Pyongyang led to uncomfortable interviews with Japan's security services. Matsumae Castle, the focal point of southern Hokkaido's Matsumae Park, where more than 10,000 cherry trees bloom on slopes overlooking the Tsugaru Strait. | Jiro Moriyama Some Matsumae trees grow in the U.S., thanks largely to Asari's friendship with Roland Jefferson, a botanist at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington. Jefferson accompanied Asari on several seed-hunting expeditions in Hokkaido. Asari also donated trees to Japanese communities in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and elsewhere. In 1993, meanwhile, Windsor Great Park in England contacted Asari about buying his cherries. Asari immediately sent saplings as a gift, saying that he wanted to make amends for the mistreatment of former prisoners of war. Today, the U.K. boasts the largest collection of Matsumae cherries outside Japan. Among the most popular are the Beni-Yutaka, Matsumae-Fuki and Shizuka varieties. Away from the trees in the royal park, another set of Matsumae cherries grows at Keele University in Staffordshire, England, which was visited on April 2 by Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan's ambassador to the U.K., and Paul Madden, former British ambassador to Japan. More Matsumae trees also grow in a garden in Kent that was the home of Collingwood "Cherry" Ingram, once Britain's foremost cherry authority. Asari's legacy is also alive at Oxford University's Botanic Garden and Arboretum, which plans to plant several hundred cherry trees over the next couple of years. Meanwhile, an English aristocrat, Jason Gathorne-Hardy, the heir to the Earl of Cranbrook, is creating a Matsumae cherry park on land he owns in Suffolk. Gathorne-Hardy planted six inaugural trees in the park in 2023. Asari is amazed at the global interest in sakura. It's a remarkable transformation since 1931, when he was born in the Hokkaido village of Nanae. Raised by a subsistence farmer and his flower-loving wife, Asari was taught that the cherry trees in his garden symbolized love and friendship and must be revered. Between the eighth century and the mid-19th century, Japanese gardeners created almost 300 different varieties of cherry. But many of these were forgotten or became extinct after the Meiji Restoration, which began in 1868. In their place, cloned cherry trees of one variety, called Somei-Yoshino, were planted throughout urban centers. This variety predominates in cities today. Many of the cherries at Matsumae Park were created by Asari. | Naoko Abe As Japan trod the path to war, the symbolism of the cherries changed dramatically. During the second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, soldiers were told to be prepared to fall like cherry blossoms for the emperor after a short but glorious life. "It was all lies," said Asari, who detests any connection to the military ideology and preaches the necessity of diversity. Asari caught the plant-hunting bug at his teacher training college in Hakodate, the present Hakodate University of Education, in the early 1950s from a botanical pioneer called Shigezo Sugawara. In 1956, on a cherry-hunting expedition on Mount Daisengen in southern Hokkaido , Asari discovered some wild cherry trees that were previously unknown in the region. That find propelled his desire to become a cherry specialist. Many of Asari's creations were born with the help of pupils at the primary school where he taught. They collected seeds at temples and shrines and planted them at the school. One year, a sapling bore unusually beautiful pink blossoms with twice as many petals as its parent tree. It was clearly a new variety. Encouraged, Asari created other varieties by planting seeds and by artificial cross-pollination. "Each tree had a unique drama, just like every pupil's life," he said. "And the trees helped the pupils to bond, connecting their lives to one another — and to me — over the years." The most unusual of Asari's "sakura peace initiatives" came to light recently at a remote convent in southeastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border. In 1988, Asari sent hundreds of trees to Poland to commemorate a Catholic priest, Father Maximilian Kolbe, who the Nazis starved to death in 1941 at Auschwitz. Kolbe, who had lived as a missionary in Nagasaki between 1930 and 1936, came to Asari's attention in 1981 when he was canonized. Most cherry trees from Hokkaido withered in Poland. But three trees are thriving, including Asari's Beni-Yutaka creation. He now talks about sending trees to Lviv, Ukraine, where Kolbe studied as a boy, after the Russia-Ukraine war is over. "I'm just a little man from a village in the middle of nowhere in Japan, so it's hard to make a difference in the world," Asari said. "But if my cherries can help spread some happiness and avoid war, then it's all worthwhile, and I can sleep soundly." Naoko Abe is the author of "'Cherry' Ingram, The Englishman Who Saved Japan's Blossoms." The U.S. edition is called "The Sakura Obsession." Her new book, "The Martyr and the Red Kimono," focuses on the life of Father Maximilian Kolbe and Asari's "sakura peace initiatives." A Japanese edition will be published in July.
Ammon
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Ammon
Japan's Ambassador attends graduation ceremony of UNRWA
Ammon News - Ambassador of Japan to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, ASARI Hideki, attended the graduation ceremony of 'Leadership Excellence and Accountability Programme (LEAP)' of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) supported by the Government of Japan on Thursday, 20 February 2025. This programme aims to enhance the agency's accountability and compliance as well as front-line service delivery by providing management staff with practical learning opportunities and workshops reflecting the concept of Women, Peace and Security (WPS). During the ceremony, Ambassador Asari emphasised the vital role UNRWA plays in delivering humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education, and other critical services for Palestine refugees in Jordan and the region. He also reaffirmed the Japan's commitment to support Palestine refugees in need especially at this difficult time.
