1926 Japan and Japanese cherries

The Inland Sea, photograph by Collingwood Ingram
The Inland Sea, photograph by Collingwood Ingram

 '1 April, The weather has been bright and cold, and snow was lying on the high hills of Shokoku as we steamed through the Inland Sea.' So began Collingwood Ingram's journal of his trip to Japan, the home of flowering cherries. The entire journal will soon be published - see the home page

Mr Funatsu, photograph by Collingwood Ingram
Mr Funatsu, photograph by Collingwood Ingram

 

 

 

 

 

It was a cold spring and the cherries were late in flowering, but eventually he saw them in their glory. He met and learnt from the men who knew most about them and their role in Japanes culture. He was invited to talk to the assembled Japanese experts: a remarkable recognition for a foreigner who began to study cherries only six years earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A page of Collingwood's notes for his talk, presumably made in his hotel room.