Cherry Blossom Lingo: fleeting cherry blossoms

Adazakura 徒桜 combines the kanji 徒 (ada) which means vain, futile, empty, fleeting, with the kanji 桜 for cherry blossom. It is an expression of impermanence, meaning more than its literal translation.

I've seen it translated as "easily scattered cherry blossoms" and "futile cherry blossoms" in English, but personally, I think of it as "fleeting cherry blossoms" as in Japanese the term reflects the transient nature of sakura.

Nowadays it is used as a metaphor for something ephemeral; beauty that cannot last or a moment that slips away. In the Edo period the term was used poetically to represent a fickle or unfaithful woman.