Q 01/05

Which Japanese word names the custom, said to date from the Nara period, of picnicking under blooming cherry trees?

A) Hanami

B) Tsukimi

C) Ikebana

D) Momijigari

Answer · why

A) Hanami

Hanami means flower viewing, and the custom began among the elite of the Imperial Court before spreading to the samurai and then to ordinary people.

Q 02/05

Why do Yoshino cherry trees planted side by side all burst into full bloom at almost the same moment?

A) They share one root system

B) They are pruned together

C) They are clones

D) They are all one age

Answer · why

C) They are clones

They are clones, each grafted from another tree rather than grown from seed, so every Yoshino has the same genes and answers spring warmth in the same...

Q 03/05

Why did American officials burn the first 2,000 cherry trees that Japan shipped to Washington in 1910?

A) They arrived already dead

B) They were full of insects

C) Congress refused the gift

D) They were the wrong species

Answer · why

B) They were full of insects

They were full of insects and nematodes, so inspectors had them destroyed to protect American growers, and Japan answered with a healthier gift of 3,0...

Q 04/05

The scent of cherry blossoms, which comes mainly from the compound coumarin, is usually likened to which flavoring?

A) Cinnamon

B) Honey

C) Aniseed

D) Vanilla

Answer · why

D) Vanilla

Vanilla is the usual comparison, yet coumarin can harm the liver in large doses, which is why the blossoms are cured before anyone eats them.

Q 05/05

Japan's national team in which sport is nicknamed the Brave Blossoms and wears a sakura emblem on its jerseys?

A) Baseball

B) Football

C) Table tennis

D) Rugby union

Answer · why

D) Rugby union

Rugby union it is: the team has worn the flower since its first internationals in the 1930s, drawn as a bud, a half-open bloom and a full one.