‘Magnificent’: Japan gifts more cherry trees to Washington as token of enduring friendship

Japan sent the 250 new trees to the United States as the National Park Service rehabs the Tidal Basin. The trees also are arriving in time for the United States’ 250th birthday.

Japan plans to help adorn Washington, D.C., with even more of the capital’s famed cherry blossoms, a gift the Asian nation said will continue to serve as a token of an enduring friendship. 

President Joe Biden confirmed news of the 250 new trees on Wednesday after welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife Yuko Kishida back to the White House. 

“Like our friendship … these trees are timeless, inspiring and thriving,” Biden said at the ceremony. The gesture is meant to commemorate the United States’ 250th birthday in July 2026. 

Prime Minister Kishida is in town for a visit and state dinner, and to “celebrate the deep and historic ties” between the two countries.

Here’s what we know.

Bond will continue to grow, just like cherry blossoms

Prime Minister Kishida said he decided to send over the trees as soon as he heard that some of the existing trees at the Tidal Basin would be replaced as a result of a multi-year rehab project by the National Park Service. 

The trees also were sent to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, he said. 

“It is said that the cherry trees planted in this area have a lifespan of about 60 years … (yet) the trees have shown their strong vitality, blooming beautifully for more than a 100 years without wane,” Kishida said.

It’s a sentiment he is confident can be applied to the Japan-U.S. alliance, saying that it will continue to “grow and bloom around the world, thriving on friendship, respect and trust of the people of both countries.”

Cherry blossoms connect both countries, first gifted over a century ago 

The White House says they welcome the gesture, one that is set to support the rehab project for Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park.

“It’s spring in Washington. The sun is shining. And every spring, cherry blossoms bloom across this city thanks to a gift from Japan of 3,000 cherry trees from over a century ago,” Biden said. “People travel all over our country and the world to see these magnificent blossoms.” 

The cherry trees, Biden says, were first gifted by Japan in 1912, are “an enduring reminder of the close bonds of friendship between Americans and Japanese,” according to The White House. It’s estimated that the trees draw about 1.5 million visitors to the D.C. area every year.

Biden said that he and First Lady Jill Biden and the Kishidas “took a stroll down the driveway, across the lawn here at The White House to visit three cherry blossom trees.

“One that Jill and Mrs. Kishida planted together a year ago and the other two are part of the 250 new trees that Japan is giving to the United States,” he said.

The new trees are set to be planted at the Tidal Basin not far from the Martin Luther King memorial, Biden said. 

“May God bless the Japanese and American people,” he said.