A close up of the bark of a tree. Prunus serrulata japanese cherry hill cherry, backgrounds textures.

"Hanami" is the centuries-old practice of drinking under a blooming sakura or ume tree. By the Heian period (794–1185) hanami was synonymous with sakura. From then on, in both waka and haiku, "flowers" (花 hana) meant "cherry blossoms". The custom was limited to the Imperial Court, but soon spread to samurai society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well. Modern time Hanami festivals are a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. The eighth-century chronicle Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) records hanami festivals being held as early as the third century AD.

In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhist influence.

The Sakurakai was a secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army. During World War II, the cherry blossom was used to stoke nationalism and militarism. Japanese ships were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to "bloom as flowers of death".

The last message of the forces on Peleliu was "Sakura, Sakura" — cherry blossoms. Sakura was painted on the side of the bombers. The first kamikaze unit had a subunit called Yamazakura or wild cherry blossom.
In its colonial enterprises, Imperial Japan often planted cherry trees as a means of claiming the occupied territory as Japanese space