If you’ve followed the Tokyo Olympics 2020, you must have seen the winners receiving medals. They are also presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Turns out that there’s a special meaning associated with the flowers that make the victory bouquet.
The flowers used for the bouquets are grown mainly in areas of the north-east Japan that were affected by the earthquake in 2011.
More than 20,000 people lost their lives in the three districts of Iwate, Fukushima and Miyag in 2011 and these areas are still trying to recover from the effect.
The sunflowers in the bouquets are sourced from Miyagi. These were first planted by parents of children who lost their lives in the earthquake. These children had taken shelter here. The entire hill is covered with sunflowers, every year.
The eustomas and Solomon’s seals have been sourced from Fukushima where they were first grown by a nonprofit organisation with the hope of reviving the local economy. The land here became unfit for agricultural production.
The indigo blue flowers, gentians, are grown in Iwate
Together, these flowers represent the disaster-affected regions of Japan and aim to bring people’s attention to these cities.
The aspidistras, have been grown in Tokyo and symbolise the host city of the 2020 Olympic Games.
What a beautiful way of remembering those struck by one of the greatest natural tragedies in the world.