No
Cherry Blossom Viewing This Spring
You won’t view cherry blossoms in
the accepted way.
Saying you’re going to look at
cherry blossoms
is only an excuse for hatching
more plots.
What do you imagine the cherry
blossom is?
It’s the pride of Japan, that’s
what—the symbol of our Yamato esprit.
I’ll allow your viewing only if
you compliantly
enjoy the cherry blossoms and
recapture that spirit.
Unless you do, you don’t
go.—Nothing doing, you absolutely don’t go.
What are you saying? I’m tyrannical?
If that’s what you think, then
take a look at these flowers.
Aren’t you aware of the glittering
cherry blossoms that bloom
on my epaulets, on my patrolman’s
cap?
-Tsuboi Shigeji (trans. Robert Epps)
