Shedescribes how Hiroya, aJapaneseartist who paid his way throughlife with his paintings, left severalworksof art to thehotelbeforedyingof a heroinoverdosea few yearsago.
In Japaneseart and poetry, cherry blossoms have also served as metaphors for "the ephemerality oflife", said James Ulak, the senior curator ofJapaneseart at Washington's Freer and Sackler art galleries, in an interview with NPR.