Japanese Gifts Commemorative Cherry Trees to Portsmouth

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

The cherry trees next to City Hall are blooming, at the same time Washington DC is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gift of cherry trees from Japan to the US “as a living symbol of friendship between the Japanese and American peoples.” The Japanese Government is commemorating the anniversary by donating cherry trees grown from cuttings of the original DC trees to select cities around the country. Portsmouth is one of only three cities in New England (the others are Boston and Pawtucket) selected to receive the special trees.(Co9ntinued below)

 

The gift of the trees recognizes the little-known fact that the famous Washington trees were given to the United States in thanks for the diplomacy that led to the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. According to the official Cherry Blossom Festival book by Ann McClellan, the original gift of cherry trees expressed “Japan’s gratitude for America’s role in negotiating the peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, signed at a conference hosted by President Theodore Roosevelt in Portsmouth NH in 1905.”

“We have learned from our initial research that Japan offered a gift of cherry trees in 1909 and that the Mayor of Tokyo fulfilled that offer with the intent of commemorating American help with the 1905 negotiations,” said Charles B. Doleac, partner with Boynton, Waldron, Doleac, Woodman & Scott in Portsmouth and president of the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire. “We are very pleased that the Government of Japan is recognizing that history by putting New Hampshire on the exclusive list of places receiving the commemorative trees this year. What’s important to Portsmouth and New Hampshire is that the descendants of these Potomac trees are not just part of the living Treaty history. The gift of many cherry trees, to be located at key treaty sites throughout the city, recognizes the many different people who supported the treaty negotiations including the Navy, State, City and all the New Hampshire citizens involved in citizen diplomacy. We have been working to identify an appropriate way to memorialize the importance of citizen diplomacy that we commemorate with Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day (September 5^th) statewide. Planting numerous cherry trees both here in Portsmouth and, eventually across the state, will serve as a living memorial to the broad tradition of citizen diplomacy practiced in New Hampshire.”

On August 30, 1909 an official letter from Japan to the US Department of State notified Washington that the city of Tokyo intended to donate cherry trees to the United States. The letter, from Yukio Ozaki, Mayor of Tokyo said, "Prompted by a desire to show its friendly sentiments to its sister Capital City Tokyo has decided to offer as a gift two thousand young trees raised in Japan."  Mayor Ozaki wrote in his autobiography: “I always wanted to show, in some way, appreciation to the government of the United States for their kindness shown to Japan during the Russo-Japanese war… I took the liberty to send the trees as a gift from the city of Tokyo.”

The announcement of the 2012 Japanese gift comes as the cherry trees at Portsmouth City Hall begin to bloom. As the City of Portsmouth began exploring its history and expanding its knowledge of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, it forged a Sister City relationship with Nichinan, Japan – the home and burial site of Baron Jutaro Komura, the chief Japanese plenipotentiary in Portsmouth at the peace conference. In 1985 and in 1993-94, Nichinan funded the purchase of the cherry trees which were planted -- and still flourish -- around the tidal basin of South Mill Pond, next to City Hall.

The Japan-America Society of New Hampshire is assisting the Consul General of Japan in Boston with preparations for a tree planting ceremony on May 11, 2012 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and at  Wentworth By the Sea where a magnolia has grown for 100 years, reputedly the gift of the Japanese for the hospitality extended by the hotel to the Japanese delegation. May 11^th is the birthday of Henry Willard Denison, son of Lancaster, New Hampshire and legal advisor to the Japanese Foreign Ministry from 1870-1914, who accompanied the Japanese delegation back to New Hampshire in 1905.Other tree locations will include Strawbery Banke Museum, under the supervision of the Historic Landscapes Curator, as a symbol of the citizen diplomacy expressed by residents including the Shapiro Family whose homes are now part of the Museum; and the John Paul Jones House Museum where the Japan Society’s Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit is displayed.

About the Portsmouth Peace Treaty (www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.org)

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt chose Portsmouth, New Hampshire to be the site of negotiations between Russian and Japanese delegations to end the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt never came to Portsmouth, relying instead upon the US Navy and the government and people of New Hampshire to act as his official hosts. After thirty days of negotiations the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was signed on September 5, 1905. Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for orchestrating the diplomacy. Thanks to legislation in 2010 recognizing the historic event and the citizen diplomacy at work when formal negotiations broke down, September 5th is now Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day throughout New Hampshire.