But one of the things that makes missing Japan a little easier around this time—and makes me thankful to be in Mexico—are the jacaranda trees. It’s not a plant that too many people are familiar with in Japan, but here in Mexico it’s a sure sign that spring has arrived. In Mexico City, we can enjoy the blossoms between early February and late April. The lavender-colored, cone-shaped flowers are so vibrant and beautiful when they’re in bloom.
Jacaranda
You can find jacaranda all over Mexico, but they originally come from Brazil. Because Spanish is spoken in Mexico, they pronounce the “j” with an “h” sound, but in Portuguese (the language spoken in Brazil), it’s pronounced as it looks. The Japanese name for jacaranda is shienboku or shiunboku, written with the characters for “purple smoke tree” and “purple cloud tree”, respectively. It is considered one of the three most beautiful flowering trees in the world alongside the royal poinciana and the African tulip tree. The climate in Japan makes it difficult for jacaranda trees to bloom, but there are apparently some places where you can see them. I was surprised to find out that there are even some that bloom in Tokyo.
The title of my post refers to the fact that Japanese who live in Mexico commonly refer to the jacaranda as the “Mexican cherry”. This is because it was a Japanese person—an expert gardener named Tatsugoro Matsumoto—who originally brought them here. Matsumoto was a garden designer who lived in Mexico in the 19th century. It was in the following century, in 1912, that Tokyo presented Washington, D.C. with three thousand cherry trees as a gift. Most people know about this, but what’s less well-known is that the president of Mexico at the time, Porfirio Díaz, later asked Japan if it might also gift his country with some cherry trees as proof of the nations’ friendship. When the Japanese government asked Tatsugoro Matsumoto if they would grow there, he answered that he thought it would be too difficult, and proposed instead to bring in some jacaranda trees from Brazil. The jacaranda bloomed beautifully in Mexico just as Matsumoto predicted, and the people of Mexico delight in them still today.
Even though the color and the shape of the jacaranda blossoms are different than those of Japanese cherries, they’re similar enough (in the time of year that they bloom, the way the trees are planted to line the streets, and the way their petals carpet the ground in lavender when they fall) that you can see why the name “Mexican cherry” is a fitting one. They certainly reminded me of cherry blossoms when I first saw them, and I’ve even enjoyed flower-viewing parties underneath them in the same way. The hanami events in Japan are a lively time for people to gather under the blossoms, enjoy delicious food and drinks, and chat about nothing in particular—but in Mexico it’s illegal to drink alcohol in public places—which goes for places like apartment courtyards as well as public parks. That keeps people from having hanami parties the way we do in Japan, but you can still grab a cup of coffee and some takeout from a nearby café and enjoy a stroll, or sit on a bench and chat. And whether you’re in Japan or Mexico, everyone wants to try to capture the beauty of the blossoms in a photo. Thinking about Tatsugoro Matsumoto and the history of the jacaranda makes them even closer to my heart. The sight of their blossoms painting the spring days in lavender is truly beautiful.
