Honda CB500T 1975 “Sakura” #23

Tied to the Buddhist themes of mortality, mindfulness and living in the present,
Japanese cherry blossoms are a timeless metaphor for human existence.
Blooming season is powerful, glorious and intoxicating, but tragically short-lived
— a visual reminder that our lives, too, are fleeting.

Why don’t we marvel at our own passing time on earth with the same joy and
passion? Why do we neglect to revel in life when it can end at any moment, or
in the grace surrounding us everywhere: our family, friends, a stranger’s smile,
a child’s laugh, new flavours on our plate or the scent of green grass? It is time,
cherry blossoms remind us, to pay attention.

In Japanese culture, sakura as the embodiment of beauty and mortality can be
traced back centuries. No one in history personified this metaphor more than
the samurai, the warriors of feudal Japan who lived by bushido (“the way of the
warrior”) — a strict moral code of respect, honour and discipline. It was their
duty to not only exemplify and preserve these virtues in life, but to appreciate
the inevitability of death without fearing it.

Symbol of love, renovation and hope, cherry blossom appears once a year and
for a very short period of time, reason why it’s an icon of life meaning, an
invitation of contemplation and quietness, indispensable feelings for a true
reflection of the short term life we are leaving and the need to live here and
now! Carpe Diem.

Original Year1975Custom Year2019ClientUndisclosed