The three-ton granite lantern sits near the shore of the Tidal Basin, rough-hewn and weathered by nearly seventy years of storms. Japan gave this sculpture to the United States in nineteen fifty-four to celebrate the centennial of the first treaty between the two nations. It marks the spot where the first cherry trees were planted in nineteen twelve. Every spring, the ambassador from Japan and local officials gather here to light the lantern, signaling the start of the city's cherry blossom season.
Japanese Lantern
historic