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A vibrant watercolor-style poster for the 2025 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., featuring pink cherry blossoms, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Monument set against a colorful sky.
▪ Vibrant pink blossoms frame the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument in this poster promoting the 2025 edition of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Prints and Photographs Division; courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival Inc.

Think Pink

Joyful and stylish posters promote the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
From saplings to centenarians, the fabled cherry blossom trees of Washington, D.C., entice more than 1.5 million visitors to the capital each spring. The initial 1912 gift of 3,020 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to Washington launched such treasured and enduring traditions as the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which officially began in 1927 and continues to this day.

The Washington Sakura Matsuri (the Japanese name for the festival) collection at the Library includes over 30 vibrant posters — beginning with 1987 and ongoing — commissioned to promote the festival. Their artist-designed images spark joy and reflect on natural beauty, friendship between Japan and America and local and global communities coming together in celebration. Inspired by the glowing blossoms, pink is almost always involved!

A stylized illustration for the 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., with intricate pink cherry blossoms surrounding the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument, illuminated by golden rays.
A modern, graphic-style poster for the 2013 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., featuring a stylized cherry tree with swirling pink blossoms overlooking the Jefferson Memorial and its reflection on the water.
As a visual art format, posters are famously gregarious. Intended to attract attention, they engage viewers quickly through combinations of eye-catching art, thoughtful graphic design and compelling messaging. Also functioning as travel posters, National Cherry Blossom Festival poster images often pair cherry blossoms and trees with famous D.C. landmarks — the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, the Washington Monument or the U.S. Capitol.

In fact, strong parallels are seen in the Library’s wider collection of travel posters from Japan, where cherry blossoms are poignant symbols of beauty and transience. Those posters frequently depict hanami (blossom-viewing) destinations or show admirers delighting in the beauty of flourishing yet delicate blossoms.

You can enjoy cherry blossoms all year round in the Library’s extensive collections related to “sakura” (Japanese for cherry blossoms), including historical and contemporary prints, drawings, photographs, ephemera and more, created from the 19th century forward by Japanese, American and other international artists.

All are featured in the Library’s popular 2020 book (going into its second edition in 2025) “Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress.”

—Mari Nakahara and Katherine Blood are curators in the Prints and Photographs Division.
A textured collage-style poster for the 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., showcasing a cherry tree in full bloom with intricate pink flowers, framing the Jefferson Memorial against a deep blue sky.
▪ Library collections hold festival posters, such as these depicting the Tidal Basin, dating back to 1987. Prints and Photographs Division; courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival Inc
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