The Mayor of Tokyo Sent the United States Approximately 3,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees in 1912

Contrary to popular belief, Japan did not give Washington its famous cherry trees as a gift. Early efforts to establish cherry trees in the nation's capital included tests with various Japanese kinds to see how hardy they were to the local climate. Dr. Jokichi Takemine, the scientist who developed adrenaline, visited Washington during this time in the company of the Japanese Consul in New York. Yukio Ozaki, the mayor of Tokyo, was convinced to gift the trees to the United States when Takemine proposed that Japan donate several thousand trees. The Consul consented.

When the first shipment of 2,000 trees arrived in Washington in 1910, it was discovered that they were plagued with a bug that may be dangerous because it was an invasive species. President William Howard Taft gave the order to gather the trees and burn them. The choice was made to send a second cargo of carefully cultivated and pre-screened trees after Japan received an apology from the United States. Over 3,000 trees came in that shipment in 1912. The first two trees were formally planted in March 1912, and the remaining trees were planted around Washington over the next eight years.

In 1915, President Taft gave flowering dogwood trees to the Japanese as a token of his appreciation. Grafts from the trees in Washington were shipped to Japan after World War II to aid in repairing the groves from whence they had originally been, which had been severely damaged. In 1965, Japan sent a second donation of 3,800 trees to help Lady Bird Johnson's initiative to spruce up the nation's capital. The Japanese cherry trees in Washington represent a number of gifts that have been exchanged between the two countries and still exist today.