On July 30 2025, Naoko met the cherry creator Masatoshi Asari, 94, in Nanae, Hokkaido.
Asari is Japan’s most renowned cherry tree creator and he is one of three protagonists in Naoko’s latest book, The Martyr and the Red Kimono.
They met in a sushi restaurant in Nanae-cho, near Asari’s home.
Asari created 116 new cherry tree varieties after the war. They are called ‘Matsumae Cherries’ as a group.
He has sent thousands of his cherries overseas in the past 50 years, mainly to the countries that Japan had invaded or inflicted sufferings during the war. They were his ‘peace offerings’ intended to achieve reconciliation and friendship. It was his way of atonement for Japan’s atrocities.
Details of his life and his ‘peace offerings’ are in the ‘Martyr and the Red Kimono’ book.
