Japan’s 97-year-old cherry blossom guardian

(Credit: Tōemon Sano)

For 16 generations, master gardeners in this one family have dedicated their lives to preserving one of the nation’s most cherished – and highly sought-out – symbols.

Each spring during sakura (cherry blossom) season, the Ninna-ji and Daikaku-ji temples in Kyoto’s leafy Ukyo ward are overwhelmed by busloads of tourists who come to snap photos of the temples’ blooming cherry trees. But little do they know that only a few kilometres away, there’s a secret sakura garden hiding in plain sight.

This 1.5-hectare public plot, known as the Sano family garden, is an oasis of calm; found just off an unassuming street near traditional wooden machiya townhouses. But this isn’t just any ordinary cherry blossom tree grove; it’s also the domain of 97-year-old Tōemon Sano: Japan’s most renowned sakuramori (cherry blossom guardian).

For more than a millennium, Japanese people have admired the delicate sakura petals as a symbol of transience and beauty. Today, this national pastime has blossomed into an international obsession, with millions of tourists from across the world descending on Japan to sip seasonal sakura-themed Starbucks drinks and participate in hanami (cherry blossom viewing) picnics and festivals from March to May. But while the world waits with bated breath for the cotton candy-coloured blossoms to burst each spring, one of the most important and least understood roles in the trees’ maintenance lies with their behind-the-scenes caretakers.