After Japan quake, cherry blossoms are reminder of fragility of life - and its strength
By Joji Sakurai, The Associated Press – Mar 27, 2011
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/japan-quake-ch ... 5-356.html
Excerpt:
"Thinking about how these people living normal lives suddenly disappeared, you can't escape the feeling that humans, like the flowers, are transient things," Yoneta said.
But consider this Japanese paradox: the delicate cherry blossom was also the symbol of the samurai, the epitome of Japanese valour.
The warrior class liked the flowers because they didn't cling to life, but rather showed up for the briefest spell, and fell at the peak of their splendor. In this way, they embodied the spirit of "bushido" — the way of the warrior that combines stoicism, bravery, and self-sacrifice.
These days, people invoke bushido less often than the common man's down-to-earth version — "gaman." It means gritting your teeth and just getting on with life. When people refer to Japan's salarymen as modern-day samurai, it's taken not so much in a swashbuckling sense but for the way these men in suits endure crushing, monotonous toil, and display unwavering loyalty to a common cause.
