News and Events

November 20 2024

Our nationally renowned collection of flowering cherry trees has reached a milestone with the planting of the 300th tree. It was planted as part of the University’s 75th anniversary celebrations in a ceremony attended by the Embassy of Japan in the UK, and former Foreign Office diplomat and two-time Olympian Mara Yamauchi.

We have one of the largest collections of flowering cherry trees in the UK and Europe with around 230 different varieties, including some that can’t be found in Japan. It has previously been awarded National Plant Collection status by Plant Heritage, the world’s leading plant conversation and research charity. 

Kayo Iwakami, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in the UK, said: "It's a great pleasure to participate in this memorial ceremony, celebrating both the 75th anniversary of Keele University and the planting of the 300th flowering cherry tree. 

The latest tree to join the collection, named Prunus nipponica, also called Japanese Alpine Cherry, was planted in the University’s Memorial Garden. As part of the event, Mara Yamauchi, a former elite marathon runner who competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and came runner-up in the 2009 London Marathon, gave a public lecture on her life and career for the latest instalment in the Professor Fumiko Yonezawa Memorial Lecture Series. 

Toshihiko Kitagawa, a lecturer in Japanese at Keele who helped to organise the planting ceremony, said: “It was fantastic to bring representatives from the Embassy of Japan in the UK to Keele for this milestone occasion. This is actually the second time in two years that we’ve had someone from the embassy come to Keele to help plant a cherry tree, and from speaking with them, I know they really appreciate the collection that we have here at the University. 

“Keele has proudly been welcoming Japanese students to study here for many years and we hope this tree planting is a symbol of our ongoing friendship and study links with Japan."

April 21 2023

Photo courtesy Press Office

Officials from the Japanese Embassy have planted a cherry tree  – adding to the campus’s nationally-renowned collection of flowering cherries.

Minister Yasuyuki Okazaki, and Third Secretary Yui Morimoto, planted the tree, known as Prunus ‘Fragrant Cloud’ due to its scent, in the University’s Memorial Garden during a visit to Keele, which included meetings with staff and students.

The visit was arranged after embassy officials learned about our collection during a presentation by Keele students at a prestigious Japanese speech competition.

March 9 2023

We are pleased to report that Ariana Fazakas and Tobi Ewuosho gave an excellent presentation on the Keele Cherry Collection at the 18th Japanese Speech Contest for University Students. It is the very first time for Keele students to be selected as the finalists in the Speech Contest's history for 18 years, and they were the only non-Russell group students in the contest!

February 14 2023

14 new flowering cherries were added to the National Collection and planted in the Memorial Garden.