the cherry trees were the inspiration of washington writer by the name of eliza skidmore. she had visited japan in. 1884 and seen the cherry trees there, had seen what a what a wonderful scene. they create every spring and and how important they were to japanese culture. so when she returned to washington, she attempted to get a similar program underway here. her efforts fell on deaf ears for the better part of a quarter a century until she was able enlist the aid of first lady helen taft, who and helped her advance the cause. the cherry trees were planted in 1912. a gift. the people of tokyo on. fortunately, there is little concrete known about the fate of original trees planted in 1912. the arborist and the landscape designers who planted the trees didn't leave behind a record of where had planted them. subsequent planting, over the years became mixed in with the originals. and today it's not known many if any of the original trees planted. but very near the stone lanterns are a handful of very old very gnarled cherry trees, which could, in date to that original 1912 shi