{"id":2596,"date":"2022-02-28T13:58:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T21:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicalmakiko.com\/en\/?p=2596"},"modified":"2022-02-28T16:46:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T00:46:45","slug":"sakura-and-sunflowers-flowers-and-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicalmakiko.com\/en\/my-musical-mission\/2596","title":{"rendered":"Sakura and Sunflowers: Flowers and Music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the English translation of my Japanese article to appear in\u00a0Nikkan San<\/a>\u00a0on March 6th, 2022, as a part of my bi-weekly column, \u201cThe Way of the Pianist<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last year, even the beauty of cherry blossoms felt bittersweet in the midst of the pandemic and the consequent tight border controls worldwide. However, with the arrival of March this year, Japan significantly reduced the travel restrictions and the quarantine requirements on incoming international travelers<\/a>. Japan is, once again, a reachable destination, and with that. the sakura flowers glow more pink than what I remember from last year. <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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At the same time, however, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is troubling the world. As the situations escalate, a video of a Ukrainian woman went viral. She demands a Russian soldier to put sunflower seeds in his pockets “so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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