New cherry trees honor 150-year U.S.-Japanese bond

The 43 trees planted on a dreary Saturday morning in San Francisco's Japantown don't look like much now - their branches are bare, and they stand around 8 feet tall.

Come spring, however, the trees will be covered with delicate cherry blossoms. Eventually, 150 of the trees will be planted in the neighborhood, and they will hold a special meaning: the ties of friendship between the United States and Japan.

Known as sakura in Japan, the trees are being planted to mark the 150th anniversary of the first official delegation from Japan to the United States, which landed in San Francisco on March 17, 1860. The Kanrin Maru - a sail and screw-driven steam corvette - landed at what is now known as Pier 9. The mission was to ratify a new treaty of "Friendship, Commerce and Navigation" between the two countries.

"It's probably one of the longest running social and economic relationships the United States has," said Allen Okamoto, a Japantown real estate agent who is co-chairing the Kanrin Maru 150th Anniversary Celebration Committee and has helped raise more than $40,000 for the project.

Half of the money came from a city grant, while $5,000 was from the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation of San Francisco. The rest has been raised from the community through donations ranging from $10 to $500. Fundraising is ongoing, as 107 more trees still need to be bought and planted, and it will cost $3,000 to $5,000 a year to maintain them.

Felicia Hoshino - whose 4-year-old son, Sora, attends the ABC Preschool in the Outer Richmond - said she helped arrange for the school to donate $500 to the program. As Sora splashed around in puddles, her 2-year-old daughter, Yume, watched the plantings take place.

"I come to Japantown weekly, and I thought it would be really nice for my son and daughter to see the tree and say, 'I helped plant that,' " she said.

Dozens of volunteers turned out to help plant the first group of trees along Post Street in Japantown on Saturday, despite the wet weather. The event was spearheaded by Friends of the Urban Forest, a local nonprofit dedicated to planting and maintaining street trees and sidewalk gardens in the city. Japanese Consul General Hiroshi Inomata was one of the people who donned gloves to help wrestle the trees - and their substantial roots - into the ground.

"I'm very surprised to see so many people," said Inomata, who arrived in San Francisco in September. "I hope to be here two or three years - up to the time when we have big, big cherry blossoms on these."

Many of the workers are regular volunteers with Friends of the Urban Forest, including Maria Fendert and her 16-year-old son, Lucas, who is getting school credit for the volunteer work. Fendert had the same idea as Hoshino.

"We'll drive by in March and get to see the blossoms," she said.

E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle