Naotaro Moriyama starts the video with a somber message.

“Currently, the world is suffering from an unprecedented disaster,” he says. “Unfortunately, it made me unable to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival and sing at the opening ceremony at the Warner Theatre, which I really looked forward to.”

Flanked by cherry blossoms in Japan’s Gongendo Park, the J-pop singer-songwriter notes that the coronavirus outbreak has taken the lives around the world, but that people have also united during the tragedy.

Like most major events in D.C., the National Cherry Blossom Festival—originally scheduled from March 20-April 12—has cancelled or postponed much of its programming (that didn’t stop many people from flocking to the Tidal Basin over the weekend before officials implemented stricter controls). But the festival organizers were able to salvage some of the scheduled events—such as Moriyama’s performance—through an ongoing “virtual festival.”

Moriyama’s song “Sakura (Cherry Blossom)” debuted in 2003 and, according to the festival website, is “considered by many Japanese to be the song most emblematic of the spring season in Japan.”

https://twitter.com/CherryBlossFest/status/1242808279006412800

The video was filmed on March 20, the first full day of spring in Japan. By then, the country was observing strict stay-at-home orders. Concerned that people would gather because of his popularity, Moriyama and his film crew drove an hour-and-a-half from Tokyo to record the song at a remote location in the Saitama Prefecture, according to a spokesperson for the festival.

The song’s lyrics are especially relevant now, at this time of worldwide struggle. Watch the recorded performance of “Sakura (Cherry Blossom)” here.

“Sakura” lyrics: Naotaro Moriyama, Kite Okachimachi

I promise you I’ll be waiting for you
Till the day that I can see you
Once again

You see the cherry blossoms blooming all around
It’s time for us to say goodbye

You stayed so strong even when the times were hard
I remember you were there smiling for me

When I was so close to giving up all my dreams
You gave me hope to stand on my feet

As I look around everything just fades away
Whenever I close my eyes, I hear that song

SAKURA SAKURA Now they are blooming all around
Even though they know that sooner they are coming to the end
Say goodbye, all my friends, and I see you once again
I promise you that you will always be in my heart

Hope I can say how I really feel inside
All the things I tried to tell you way before
I wanna cherish your future and your dreams
With the words coming from my true heart

The times are changing now
The seasons come and go
Sometimes I feel like the world is rushing us

SAKURA SAKURA Now I see them falling down
Just believing that someday they will be coming back to life
Don’t you cry, all my friends, it’s time to say goodbye
I wanna see you smiling once again oh

SAKURA SAKURA Now I see them flying away
See the sunlight shedding on them as they’re dancing in the air
Say goodbye, all my friends I will see you once again right here
Place where flowers keep blooming every year
Place where flowers keep blooming every year
Our place