2 days ago
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.
