TORONTO, May 26, 2003 -- York University will plant 250 Japanese flowering cherry trees as part of the Japanese government’s Sakura project, symbolizing the long-standing close relationship between Japan and Canada and York’s many cultural and academic ties with Japanese institutions.

Japan’s Consul General in Toronto, Takashi Koezuka, and York University President & Vice-Chancellor, Lorna R. Marsden, will perform a ceremonial planting at York’s Keele campus on Wednesday, May 28, at 11 a.m.

The Japanese flowering cherry, or Sakura, is a revered symbol of Japan. Its blossoming marks the arrival of spring and is celebrated in Waka and Haiku poetry and with annual Hanami, or flower-viewing picnics every year under the full blossom of the Sakura.

WHAT:

Symbolic Cherry Tree planting

 

WHO:	Consul General of Japan in Toronto, Takashi Koezuka
	York University President & Vice-Chancellor, Lorna R. Marsden

 

WHEN:

Wednesday, May 28, 11 a.m.

WHERE:	Computer Science and Engineering Building, north side
	Keele campus, York University, 4700 Keele St.
	A reception will follow in Room 3033 Computer Science & Engineering Building

NOTE:

A photograph will be made available to news media.

For further information, please contact:

YU/051/03