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singular cherry was appreciated as a magic imperial symbol rather than as garden plant, which could explain the absence of the cherry in this plant list. But one needs to understand that writing itself was an act of magic; hardly anything was written at the time for the simple purpose of recording daily life. With the increasing use of the phonetic writing system for native, spoken Japanese, expressions in literature turned to a truer depiction of emotions and to a more descriptive view of the world. The latter half of the Heian period produced many diaries written in phonetic Japanese. These diaries give us an idea of how the ruling classes perceived the world around them. From this time on, the history of the cherry leaves the veils of myth and legend and enters the light of documented history. The diary of Teika Fujiwara (11621241), a nobleman at the imperial court, is an example. It speaks of cherries in quite some detail. The author's notes picture a narrow world of problems about what clothes to wear and what colors they should be at obligatory courtesy visits. The diary also tells about the weekly bath and the monthly appointment with the hairdresser. In between are remarks about an early cherry that flowered even before the plum (Prunus mume) and another late flowering, pink double cherry. The diary refers to transplanting and grafting cherries (Uehara Keiji 1977, pp. 2, 33). The word the author uses for the cherry is the native Japanese word sakura, meaning flowering cherries. Teika Fujiwara had a countryside retreat planted with flowering cherries. The retreat was located at Arashiyama, a scenic opening in the hills that surround the valley of the Capital of Peace. The area had been famous for centuries prior as the site of aristocratic picnics in autumn when the wild maples would be at their best. It was reached by passing through fields; the city only occupied part of the plain opposite Arashiyama. Today the entire plain has become an urban area, and Arashiyama is widely known for its cherries, which probably originated with the cherries of Teika Fujiwara. Not long after the death of Teika Fujiwara, the area was chosen as a site for an imperial residence. Construction began in 1255. A spacious garden was laid out with a pond fed by water from the river that runs between the hills of Arashiyama. To heighten the beauty in spring, numerous cherries were brought from the Yoshino region at Nara, about seventy kilometers to the south, and planted among the maples on the foothills of Arashiyama