Sakura Line

This is variations of a famous Japanese traditional song Sakura, Sakura. This song was already known to people in Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), and the composer is unknown. The word Sakura means cherry blossoms. Unlike normal variations, the theme appears in the last variation in this piece. You may know the melody by a well-known classical guitar piece named Theme and Variations on “Sakura, Sakura” by Yukihiro Yoko. The title Sakura Line implies other special meaning. There is a project named Sakura Line 311 in Japan. Let me quote a part of the official statement in the project page.
“Sakura Line 311 will plant Cherry Blossom trees along a 170 km line, marking the areas where the tsunami reached furthest inland. One tree will be planted every 10 meters along this line. Anywhere beyond the line will be considered a safe place for evacuation. The line will also serve as a memorial so that future generation will not forget what happened here. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earth quake occurred off the coast of Japan and caused a tsunami to hit the Tohoku area one hour later. The tsunami literally stopped the clock in Rikuzentakata, causing great devastation. The Sanriku Coast, the name for the north eastern area of Honshu Island, has a long history of tsunami attacks. It was only after this most recent disaster that records resurfaced of a previous tsunami of equal strength occurring long ago. However, the lessons learned from that tsunami were forgotten and remembered only after it was too late. If we had known about the possibility of a disaster of such magnitude occurring, better protective measures could have been carried out and lives could have been saved. We deeply regret that we allowed this to happen.”
I hope this composition will become a little help to this project.