SAKURA SENTIMENTS: Mie man finds pride in his roof, once a sign of his family’s poverty

TSU--“Mitake no Sakura” (Mitake’s sakura) is a famous cherry blossom viewing spot in the mountains about a one-hour drive from Tsu Station in Mie Prefecture.

There, around 500 mountain cherry blossom trees line a 1.5-kilometer slope leading to the gate of Shinpukuin temple of the Shingon Buddhism sect.

An old traditional Japanese house with a “kayabuki” thatched roof still stands along the slope.

Minoru Tanaka, 67, was born and raised there.

The house is designated as a tangible cultural property by the central government, but Tanaka says, “When I was small, a kayabuki roof was a symbol of poverty.”

When he was in elementary school, he had to walk in front of the house with his classmates every spring as the destination of the spring school trip was always Mitake no Sakura.

Neighboring houses all sported tiled roofs, and he was embarrassed by and hated how his classmates looked at his kayabuki roof house, which had a cow inside it as well.

Cherry blossom trees in Mitake no Sakura originate from the trees that a Buddhist monk called Rigen Daishi planted there in around 900, in the middle of the Heian Period (794-1185).

The site was even described as a cherry blossom viewing spot in old documents dating before the Edo Period (1603-1867).

It was only after Tanaka returned to his hometown following his graduation from a university that he became aware of the charm of his local cherry blossoms.

By that time, Mitake no Sakura was well-known nationally.

It was named in lists such as “Japan’s top 100 cherry blossom spots” and featured in magazines and TV programs.

Visitors came to see the cherry blossoms from across the country, and Tanaka realized that they appreciated not only the flowers, but also his childhood kayabuki-roofed house.

He heard them describe the kayabuki roof as “nostalgic” and giving them a “sense of calm.”

As he learned that they said the house “matched the scenery of cherry blossoms” and “should be preserved,” the thatched roof became a source of pride for him rather than a symbol of poverty.

The district he lives in now has only 35 households as well as many aging residents.

Tanaka has no children, but he rethatched the roof this spring.

He crowdfunded the cost to do so and finished rethatching it with help from volunteers on April 4.

He did it because he hopes to pass the house on to people who want to use an old traditional Japanese house as a base for their activities.

The purpose of the crowdfunding was not just to raise money, but to also communicate widely about the area to get people interested in it and attract visitors, Tanaka says.

The cherry blossom trees that were planted more than 1,000 years ago have grown to have a trunk circumference of three meters or so.

They have produced new buds over the years to pass them down to the next generation.

Like the trees that keep their enduring lives, Tanaka says he wants to “preserve this beautiful scenery for 10 or even 100 years.”