- Title: JAPAN: Ninth International Rose and Gardening show
- Date: 20th May 2007
- Summary: CHILDREN LOOKING AT AND SMELLING ROSES
- Embargoed: 4th June 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA9A7KDSGBCHUXO5TK8GU2ANP16
- Story Text: Tens of thousands of Japanese crowded into the Goodwill Stadium on the outskirts of Tokyo on Wednesday (May 16) as the Ninth International Rose and Gardening Show kicked off.
The fourteen-thousand square metre baseball stadium was packed with over a million blooms ranging from the common garden variety to the hybrid Tea rose and the Bourbon rose.
Japan has a long tradition of flower arrangement or ikebana (pronounced "ee-keh-bah-nah") and the Japanese are fascinated by flowers of all kinds. But the rose stands out as an imported symbol of romance and femininity.
"I love the fragrance of roses and the way the many petals fold over into each other, that is sublime," said 71-year-old housewife Hiroko Kamiya.
An estimated 250,000 visitors are expected over the five days of the show.
"Roses are beautiful and extravagant and kind-hearted. But I think we get all worked up about them because they are difficult to grow," said 59-year-old Keiko Hoshino.
This year's exhibition, hosted by various Japanese government ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as various local associations and foreign embassies, sought to display the rose in a traditional European -- and especially French -- setting such as in a French garden villa. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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