Benguet is the province where Baguio City is located, it is however a huge province covering a span of 13 municipalities and one city which is Baguio. While Baguio City has a close affinity with Japan, other provinces in Benguet particularly Atok in Benguet also have that close relationship with Japan. In fact, in Paoay Atok Benguet the Japanese has adopted an area which they hope to turn into a Sakura Park similar to those seen in Japan.
A little background, some years back, the Japanese sister city of Baguio donated several cherry blossom trees to Baguio City with the hope of propagating them, unfortunately the first seedlings of cherry blossoms did not yield any flowers even after several years. It was thought therefore that Baguio city is not conducive for growing Cherry Blossoms (Sakura).
In 2016, a resident of Paoay, Atok Benguet came home from Japan after his years of working in the country. He convinced his Japanese employers to adopt a piece of land in Atok Benguet and turn it into a Sakura Park. Thus the Kochi Sisterhood Sakura Park was born. They brought seedlings of Cherry Blossom trees to Atok and planted it with the hopes of turning the entire area into a Sakura Park where people can have a picnic under the cherry blossom trees. This project of course would all depend on the ability of the trees to bear flowers after 5 years. In 2018, just about 2 years after the cherry blossom trees were planted, the seedlings bore flowers! What was not achieved in Baguio City was achieved in Atok Benguet and finally the Cherry blossom trees found a rightful place to grow and thrive. In 2018, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit this park, it is quite a challenge to go to the Sakura park because of poor road conditions, lack of transportation and its far distance from the city, but the challenge is worth it. I was able to take photos of the cherry blossoms despite the fact that the trees are just about 2-3 feet in height, you couldn’t even call it a tree just yet. This year, I missed the blooming of the cherry blossoms, I heard it is during the month of April that these trees blooms in Atok Benguet, I will however make an effort to go there next year hopefully to see them blooming and thriving.