A man who planted sakura
As I told to you in former article,
( https://folklifejapan.tumblr.com/post/158802427701/famous-sakura-trees-3-%E8%8D%98%E5%B7%9D%E6%A1%9C%E3%81%A8%E3%83%80%E3%83%A0%E6%B9%96-shokawa-zakura-and )
Shoukawa zakura trees had been able to avoid the fate of going under water. The village where those trees had grown sank out of sight because the dam had been constructed. But many people made efforts to transplant those trees to higer place. The project succeeded. Village people,especially an old woman, hugged its huge trunk and wept for joy.
There was a person who saw this scenery. His name was 佐藤良二SATO RYOUZI. He was a bus conductor of 名金MEIKIN bus line. It was a very long bus line which went from Nagoya to Kanazawa via Shirawakagou( one of a world heritage) , in other words, it connected Pacific Ocean side and Sea of Japan side. He was moved that old woman's tears. He of course loved sakura,and loved people who loved sakura. He made up his mind to make a chain of sakura trees from Pacific Ocean side to Sea of Japan side. On his way to Kanazawa on his job, he asked his coworker(a bus driver) to stop the car. Beside Satou he had some sakura nursery trees. He got off the bus and planted them, day by day, every day. No passenger said anything like complain (Oh, it was a beautiful and pastoral Shouwa era. If it is now, the passengers absolutely blame those crew ).
Sato died of illness in 1977,before achieving a goal. Aged 47. But his co worker and some people succeeded to his wish and continued to plant sakura nursery trees. If you drive a car from Nagoya to Shirakawago or Kanazawa, you would take Route 156. Shirakawago is worth seeing.But not only Shirakawago. Please pay attention to many sakura trees along the Route. And please take a rest beside the lake which made by dam. You can find huge sakura trees called Shoukawa zakura. And please remember our feeling and love to sakura. We Japanese love sakura so much.
