Embedded Files
Winnicott
Throughout a lifespan, every individual human shares a deep connection to a specific item, a symbolic and impactful object. This is the belief that D.W. Winnicott shares, believing that these items, transitional objects, can be used to bridge the gap between inner feelings and the outside world. Specifically, he claims that people express their feelings to create and connect through symbolism and objects. This belief directly applies to the nature of cherry blossoms to Japan. Cherry blossoms hold deep symbolic and cultural roots in Japan, implying the value and significance that it holds to their country. As seen in the Postwar Reconciliation section, Japan utilized the cherry blossoms and shared it to other nations. Investing such an important object with other countries, Japan is showcasing their intent to foster a connection and relationship. Through the offering of cherry blossoms, Japan was extending a part of it's cultural self. In connection to Winnicott, the object was used to convey vulnerability, trust, and hope. As such, it allows Japan to present itself through beauty, sincerity, and value, softening the wartime experiences and putting forward a peaceful environment. Additionally, the tree branches also represented transitional objects. Utilized by Kamikaze pilots, the branches symbolized a path to the afterlife, bridging the gap between the living and dead.
Mintz
Sidney Mintz argued that everyday cultural objects, such as sugar, sometimes aren't just material things. They become meaningful through the social, political, and historical relationships that surround them. Mintz shows how objects can carry power and express values, while also mediating relationships between groups. The cherry blossom trees function similarly in the gift exchange: although they appear as simple natural objects, the trees symbolize Japan’s national identity. Like Mintz’s analysis of sugar, the sakura reveal how an ordinary item can carry cultural meaning and be a tool of international influence. Japan used the cherry blossoms to shape how it was perceived globally and to create a long-term symbolic connection between Japan and the U.S. He talks about how sugar and its exchange created bonds through the commodity and also hid a deeper meaning behind it, very similar to how the cherry blossoms have deeper motivations surrounding political alliance behind them.
Mauss
In The Gift, Marcel Mauss argues that gifts are never free. Every gift creates a cycle of giving, receiving, and returning between the giver and receiver. Gifts carry the values of the society that offers them, as they are both material objects and cultural symbols. When Japan gifted the cherry blossom trees to the United States in 1912, the exchange followed this pattern as they were a cultural symbol tied to its own history and national identity, also encouraging political alliance and cooperation. At a diplomatic level, the gift functioned as a peaceful offering during a time when Japan sought to strengthen its international presence and improve relations with the U.S. When the United States accepted the trees, planted them in the nation’s capital, and celebrated them publicly, it fulfilled the second phase of Mauss’s ideas: the obligation to receive. Acceptance meant respect for Japan and acknowledgment of the relationship the gift initiated. The U.S. then completed Mauss's cycle of reciprocity by sending dogwood trees to Japan in 1915. As a result, the cherry trees became a visible reminder of goodwill between the two nations, demonstrating the idea that diplomacy operates not only through treaties but through meaningful cultural exchanges as well. Through Mauss’s lens, the cherry blossom gift was an act of diplomacy to cultivate trust and respect between Japan and the United States.
Despite the long history of the 1912 cherry blossom gift, one main aspect still remains a mystery. Historians still debate Japan’s exact diplomatic intentions, since official documents emphasize friendship while political context suggests strategic aims. Through Mauss's, Mintz's, and Winnicott's ideas about gift giving and transitional objects it can be inferred that Japan had some ideas of creating a bond with the U.S. politically as opposed to just giving a friendly gift. It is also not specifically recorded what the symbolic intentions were of the cherry blossom or if there is a deeper meaning under them just being an important cultural piece. Studies all take different stances on the intentions of the gift based on the political context of the time.
Page updated
Report abuse