Gathering of the Called Out Ones: U.S. stamps to mark 100 years of cherry trees gift

QUOTES TO STIR THE POT

"I love two Js and no third; one is Jesus, and the other is Japan. I do not know which I love more, Jesus or Japan. I am hated by my countrymen for Jesus' sake as foreign belief, and I am disliked by foreign missionaries for Japan's sake as national and narrow. Even if I lose all my friends, I cannot lose Jesus and Japan . . . Jesus and Japan; my faith is not a circle with one center; it is an ellipse with two centers. My heart and mind revolve around the two dear names. And I know that one strengthens the other; Jesus strengthens and purifies my love for Japan; and Japan clarifies and objectives my love for Jesus. Were it not for the two, I would become a mere dreamer, a fanatic, an amorphous universal man."

Uchimura Kanzo, 1861-1930

Thursday, July 21, 2011

U.S. stamps to mark 100 years of cherry trees gift

Kyodo

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service will issue two stamps next year on the 100th anniversary of the gift to Washington of more than 3,000 cherry trees by Yukio Ozaki, the mayor of Tokyo at the time.

The "Cherry Blossom Centennial Forever Stamps" create a single, panoramic view of the cherry trees blooming around the Tidal Basin when two stamps are placed side by side.

The other half of each stamp features blossoming trees arching over a family on a stroll and two girls wearing kimono, and a canopy of pink blooms with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. The trees have become a symbol of the Japan-U.S. friendship.