Press contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639
Public contact: Katherine Blood (202) 707-4622
Public contact: Mari Nakahara (202) 707-2990
View the exhibition online.
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6382 (voice/tty) or ada@loc.gov

March 1, 2012

Library of Congress Will Offer Lectures and Tours Related to Cherry Blossoms Exhibition

The Library of Congress, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Tokyo’s gift of 3,000 flowering cherry trees to Washington, D.C., will open an exhibition on March 20 and hold events related to the exhibition throughout the spring and summer.

"Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of Friendship," opens on Tuesday, March 20, in the Graphic Arts Galleries on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The exhibition runs through Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. It is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

On display will be 54 items from the Library of Congress collections, illuminating the story of these landmark trees, the historical significance of cherry blossoms in Japan and their continuing resonance in American culture and for Washingtonians in particular. More on the exhibition can be found here.

Additional free events at the Library of Congress related to the exhibition will include a series of gallery talks by curators Mari Nakahara, from the Asian Division, and Katherine Blood, from the Prints and Photographs Division. All gallery talks will be at noon on Wednesdays at the exhibition site in the Graphics Arts Galleries. The schedule for March and April:

• March 28, the curators will give a tour of the exhibition.
• April 4, the curators will discuss the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the people of Tokyo to the people of Washington, D.C.
• April 11, the curators will discuss the historical significance of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture.
• April 18, the curators will discuss the continuing resonance of the cherry blossoms in American culture and for Washingtonians in particular.
• April 25, the curators will give a tour of the exhibition.

The Library will hold a lecture by former Ambassador John Malott on the 1912 gift of the flowering cherry trees. The lecture will be held at noon on Thursday, March 29, in the Asian Division Foyer, Room 150, on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

Also, an event for children, "Japanese Culture Day," will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, and Saturday, April 14, in the Library’s Young Readers Center in Room 29 on the ground level of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

On Wednesday, April 11 at 1 p.m. the Cherry Blossom Princesses of 1948 (the first princess), 1974, 1981 and 2012 will talk about their experiences during their reigns. The princess of 1981 is donating a collection of National Conference of States Societies’ Cherry Blossom Ball brochures to the Library. The event will be held in the Asian Division Reading Room, Room 150, on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

For teachers, the Library will hold workshops that will provide strategies to explore 20th-century Japanese and United States relations in the classroom. The workshops will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 29; Saturday, March 31; and Saturday, April 14, in the Thomas Jefferson Building. For more information, contact Susan Mordan-White at (202) 707-9203.

The Library will hold a Manga Day in early summer to promote Japanese language education through manga (Japanese comic books). The date and time is yet to be determined. For further details, call (202) 707-2990. The event will be in the Asian Division Reading Room, Room 150, on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

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PR 12-044
03/01/11
ISSN 0731-3527

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