It’s finally that time of year again! As the cherry blossoms on the Tidal Basin enter their annual screaming stage (see previous Heckler post), it’s time we recognize what this celebration is truly all about: the 110-year friendship between the United States and Japan, which has been mutually beneficial for all and has had absolutely no speed bumps. 

It all started in 1912, when Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki gave a gift of cherry blossom trees to the city of Washington, DC as a display of friendship between the two nations. Since then, there have been no two countries more closely intertwined, and we celebrate that special relationship every year with the Cherry Blossom Festival. We’ve stuck together through the highs and lows, and when nobody else was there for us, we knew Japan had our back. Who can forget in 1941, when the Japanese Navy selflessly defended America from the traitors within our midst at Pearl Harbor, without us even having to ask them? We were so grateful that we returned the favor four years later, when we kick-started some much-needed urban renewal in Hiroshima and Nagasaki – for free! Surely, two nations have never had a better relationship.

So, the next time you go and see the white girls amongst the cherry blossoms, just remember that this is more than a pretty view. It’s a symbol of the greatest friendship the world has ever known, and a commitment that we will never let each other down. Well, except for that one time.