The Japanese Stone Lantern, located among the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, is quite a bit older than its adopted city, Washington, D.C.
The lantern was first lit in 1651 in Japan to mark the death of Tokugawa Iemitsu, third shogun of the Tokugawa Dynasty. It was he who closed Japan’s borders to foreigners, a policy that was to last for 200 years.
Given in 1954 by the governor of Tokyo to symbolize friendship and peace between Japan and the United States, the lantern is the oldest freestanding man-made stone structure in Washington that is not in a museum.
Eight and a half feet tall, the lantern is made of solid granite and weighs six tons. It is lit just once a year in a formal ceremony during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a joint production of the National Conference of States Societies and the National Park Service, National Capital Region.
This year’s honored guest at the April 7 lighting ceremony was Japan’s Ambassador to the United States Shinsuke Sugiyama.
View Jeff Malet’s photos from the Japanese Stone Lantern Lighting Ceremony on Sunday, April 7, by clicking on the photo icons below.
2019 Cherry Blossom Princesses (photo by Jeff Malet)
Japanese Choral Society of Washington (photo by Jeff Malet)
Yuki Tatsumi, 2018-2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Queen; Reina Sugiyama, 2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Princess; Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Japanese ambassador to the United States with wife Yoko. (photo by Jeff Malet)
Shiromi with Akiko Keene, Lantern Lighting Event Director (photo by Jeff Malet)
Yuki Tatsumi, 2018-2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Queen; Reina Sugiyama, 2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Princess
Mark H. Rooney, Taiko Drums (photo by Jeff Malet)
2019 Cherry Blossom Princesses representing every state and territory. (photo by Jeff Malet)
National Cherry Blossom Festival Goodwill Ambassadors
The George Washington University U.S. Navy ROTC Color Guard (photo by Jeff Malet)
(photo by Jeff Malet)
Yuki Tatsumi, 2018-2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Queen (photo by Jeff Malet)
Shinsuke J. Sugiyama is the current Japanese ambassador to the United States (photo by Jeff Malet)
Shinsuke J. Sugiyama is the current Japanese ambassador to the United States (photo by Jeff Malet)
Reina Sugiyama, 2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Princess, lights the lantern on April 7. Photo by Jeff Malet.
Lighting of the Stoner Lantern by Reina Sugiyama, 2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Princess (photo by Jeff Malet)
Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Japanese ambassador to the United States; Reina Sugiyama, 2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Princess; Margaret O’Meara, 2018 United States Cherry Blossom Queen; Yuki Tatsumi, 2018-2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Queen; the ambassador’s wife Yoko. (photo by Jeff Malet)
2019 Cherry Blossom Princesses representing every state and territory. (photo by Jeff Malet)
2019 Cherry Blossom Princesses and Junior Princesses (photo by Jeff Malet)
Junior Princess Olivia Adcock of Washington D.C. (photo by Jeff Malet)
Margaret O’Meara, 2018 United States Cherry Blossom Queen (photo by Jeff Malet)
Yuki Tatsumi, 2018-2019 Japan Cherry Blossom Queen (photo by Jeff Malet)
The Japanese Stone Lantern is 368 years old (photo by Jeff Malet)