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Figure 8 Hills of Arashiyama, where the Oi-gawa * River enters the valley of Kyoto*. The Horin-ji* Temple can be seen tucked between the hills just above the hamlet at the point where the bridge reaches the opposite riverbank. The cherries 'Arashiyama', 'Horinji', and 'Tagui-arashi' originate from this area. From Akisato Rito* (1780).
at the back of the estate, adding to Fujiwara's cherries. In spring the landscape would form a background of blossom clouds for the spacious pond garden at the palace. It can be assumed that the villagers of Yoshino had selected particularly nice cherries to fill the imperial cherry order. The trees would have been young yet beautiful, suggesting that they offered deep foliage colors rather than spectacular flowers. In later centuries the Arashiyama area would produce such garden cherries as 'Arashiyama' and 'Tagui-arashi'. These single-flowered forms show a remarkable red coloring of bud scales, bracts, calyx, and sepals, and must be judged as selections from the Japanese mountain cherry. A rare form, known as 'Horinji', comes from this area and has the same deep coloring of calyx and sepals.