Sakura Namiki in Washington D.C., USA(photos compiled by Tuan Vu, Olympia, WA, USA, lyrics embedded by Dang Luong Mo of HCM City, VN)

MY DEAR LOVER (translation by Dang Luong Mo)

On the evening when withered leaves are falling,Telling of a cold that is coming,I was sitting in the rain on a broken benchWithout a murmuring love songMy dear lover please stay by meJust stay with me for I am being frozenTell me you are just kiddingBy saying good-bye and please smile

A jogging man passing byOn the gravel roadSeems to seduce me who am standing stillAs if I want to forget allMy dear lover good-byeThe seasons keep on changing thoughThe shooting star we were looking at that eveningFlashing and disappearing, has just become a heartless dream

My dear lover please stay by meJust stay with me for I am being frozenTell me you are just kiddingBy saying good-bye and please smile

KOIBITO-YO

Mayumi ITSUWA ca

Kareha chiru yuugure waKuruhi no samusa wo monogatariAme ni kowareta benchi niwaAi wo sasayaku uta mo naiKoibito yo, soba ni iteKogoeru watashi no soba ni ite yoSoshite hitokoto kono wakare-banashi gaJoudan da yo to waratte hoshii

Jarimichi wo kakeashi deMarason bito ga yuki sugiruMarude boukyaku wo nozomu youniTomaru watashi wo sasotte-iruKoibito yo, sayonaraKisetsu wa megutte kuru kedoAnohi no futari, yoi no nagare-boshiHikatte wa kieru, mujou no yume yo

Koibito yo, soba ni iteKogoeru watashi no soba ni ite yoSoshite hitokoto kono wakare-banashi gaJoudan da yo to watte hoshii

Kareha chiru yuug(k)ure wa

(On the evening when withered leaves are falling)

Kuruhi no samusa wo monogatari

(Telling of a cold that is coming)

Ame ni kowareta benchi niwaAi wo sasayaku uta mo nai

(I was sitting in the rain on a broken benchWithout a murmuring love song)

Koibito yo soba ni ite

(My dear lover please stay by me)

Kogoeru watashi no soba ni ite yo

(Just stay with me for I am being frozen)

Soshite hitokoto kono wakarebanashi ga

(Tell me you are just kidding, by saying good-bye…)

Joudan da yo to…

waratte hoshii

(…and please smile)

Jarimichi wo kake-ashi de

(On the gravel road,…)

Marason bito ga yuki sugiru

Marude boukyaku (wo) nozomu youni

(A jogging man passing by)

(As if I want to forget all)

Tomaru watashi wo sasotte-iru

(Seems to seduce me who am standing still)

Koibito yo, sayonara

(My dear lover good-bye)

Kisetsu wa megutte kuru kedo

Anohi no futari yoi no nagareboshi

(The seasons keep on changing though)

(A shooting star we were looking at that evening)

Hikatte wa kieru mujou no yume yo

(Flashing and disappearing, has just become a heartless dream)

Koibito yo, soba ni ite

(My dear lover please stay by me)

Kogoeru watashi no soba ni ite yo

Soshite hitokoto…

(Just stay with me for I am being frozen)

(Tell me…)

Joudan da yo to…

…kono wakarebanashi ga

(…you are just kidding)

(By saying good-bye…)

…waratte hoshii

(…and please smile)

History of Cherry Trees in America

-City of Tokyo gave 3,000 Cherry trees to Washington, D.C., in 1912.

-3,800 more Cherry trees were given in 1965.

-In 1981 the cycle of giving came full circle. Japanese horticulturalists came to take cuttings from our trees to replace Yoshino cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood. -Cuttings from a famous 1500 years old Japanese cherry tree in Gifu province were planted in Washington D.C.

- The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the gifts of Japan to America