Join NCSS and the National Park Service for the traditional lighting of the Japanese Stone Lantern, located amidst the cherry blossom trees. Lantern is approximately 375 years old and weighs over 4,000 pounds and given as a gift by Japan in 1954.

Musical Prelude starts at 2:30 PM with ceremony beginning at 3 PM until 4:30 PM. This ceremony marks the first public appearance of the 2024 U.S. Cherry Blossom Princesses.

The Japanese Stone Lantern was presented in 1954 to Washington, D.C. as a gift to commemorate the 100th anniversary of America’s first treaty with Japan. It is lit only once a year, and by the Cherry Blossom Princess representing Japan. Standing 8.5 feet tall and weighing approximately 4,000 pounds, it was carved nearly four centuries ago to honor the Third Shogun of the Tokugawa period. It stands 50 feet east of the first two cherry blossom trees planted by First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda (wife of the Japanese ambassador) in 1912, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.