Sunday Feature

Cherry Women, Cherry Men

Sunday 31 December 2006 21:00-21:45 (Radio 3)

Cherry Women, Cherry Men: Writer and translator Stephen Henry Gill and composer Malte Jaspersen profile the national love affair of the Japanese with cherry blossom. Every winter, in a look towards spring, the Sakura Zensen, or Cherry-Blossom Front, sweeps at about 8mph across Japan. Its arrival is followed on television and the country gradually submerges beneath a sea of pale pink blossom, engendering nationwide revelry. There are many stories, poems and songs, both ancient and modern, inspired by the Cherry Blossom Front, and people gather to drink and sing under the flowering boughs.

Duration:

45 minutes

Sunday Feature

Episode and Playlist Information

• 18 Feb 07 Six Unexpected Days
• 4 Feb 07 Struggle for Language
• 28 Jan 07 Turkish
• 21 Jan 07 New German
• 14 Jan 07 Pigment Envy
• 7 Jan 07 Heinrich von Kleist
• 31 Dec 06 Cherry blossom
• 24 Dec 06 Sisters of Aphrodite
• 24 Dec 06 Brecht and composers
• 17 Dec 06 The Reconciler

Sunday Feature pages