Last updated: March 25, 2021
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Mystery of the Broken Branch Stop 6: Japanese Pagoda
Follow the Trail
Follow the trail with Ranger Sarah and a group kids as they search the Tidal Basin for clues about the cherry trees. You can follow along this mystery adventure from home or when visiting the Cherry Blossom Festival at the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, DC.
The image is a map for a kids activity called "Junior Ranger Story: The Mystery of the Broken Branch". Each activity directs participants to a place on the map. The map centered around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. The trail has blue dots numbered clockwise around the Tidal Basin marked with numbers 1 through 12 and named for the title of the individual activity at that location.
The map legend says "Story Trail Guide". Stops marked on the map include:
Stop 1: The Trail Begins, which is located on the east end of the Kutz Memorial Bridge on Independence Avenue.
Stop 2: Pollination Station, which is located to the south of Stop 1 on the Tidal Basin.
Stop 3: Write Your Own Haiku, which is located along the Tidal Basin near Maine Avenue.
Stop 4: Cherry Trees Around the World, which is located on the Tidal Basin near the intersection of Basin Drive and Ohio Drive.
Stop 5: Jefferson Memorial, which is located at the Jefferson Memorial plaza on the Tidal Basin.
Stop 6: Japanese Pagoda, which is located at a stone pagoda structure on the west side of the Tidal Basin near the south end of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Stop 7: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which starts at the north end of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and continues through the memorial.
Stop 8: The Tree with the Broken Branch, which is located near West Basin Drive just north of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Stop 9: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which is located on the plaza of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Stop 10: Festival History, which is located along the Tidal Basin just east of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Stop 11: Hanami, which is located on the Tidal Basin near Independence Avenue between the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Kutz Memorial Bridge.
Stop 12: Japanese Lantern, which is located at a stone lantern statue on the west end of the Kutz Memorial Bridge on Independence Avenue.
The map legend says "Story Trail Guide". Stops marked on the map include:
Stop 1: The Trail Begins, which is located on the east end of the Kutz Memorial Bridge on Independence Avenue.
Stop 2: Pollination Station, which is located to the south of Stop 1 on the Tidal Basin.
Stop 3: Write Your Own Haiku, which is located along the Tidal Basin near Maine Avenue.
Stop 4: Cherry Trees Around the World, which is located on the Tidal Basin near the intersection of Basin Drive and Ohio Drive.
Stop 5: Jefferson Memorial, which is located at the Jefferson Memorial plaza on the Tidal Basin.
Stop 6: Japanese Pagoda, which is located at a stone pagoda structure on the west side of the Tidal Basin near the south end of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Stop 7: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which starts at the north end of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and continues through the memorial.
Stop 8: The Tree with the Broken Branch, which is located near West Basin Drive just north of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Stop 9: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which is located on the plaza of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Stop 10: Festival History, which is located along the Tidal Basin just east of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Stop 11: Hanami, which is located on the Tidal Basin near Independence Avenue between the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Kutz Memorial Bridge.
Stop 12: Japanese Lantern, which is located at a stone lantern statue on the west end of the Kutz Memorial Bridge on Independence Avenue.
Stop 6: Japanese Pagoda
Head to Stop 6 by following the trail along the Tidal Basin to a stone statue. Read the following story to keep the adventure going!
NPS Photo
“Hey, what’s this?” Taylor asked, running off the path toward a large stone statue.
“This is the Japanese Pagoda,” Ranger Sarah answered. “It was a gift given as a sign of friendship from Japan to the people of Washington, DC.”
“It’s beautiful,” Imani said, admiring the carving, and how pretty it looked set among the cherry trees.
“It certainly is! And here’s a funny story—it’s also sort of a puzzle. When it arrived here in 1958, it had been shipped in five different crates, with no instructions! It took us a while to figure out how to put it together! But we got some help from the Library of Congress and eventually solved the puzzle. Do you see Buddha seated on a lotus flower on the sides of the granite? There are symbols here to represent balance among the elements of sky, wind, fire, water, and the earth.”
“Wow, this statue has a lot to say!” Jamal said with a laugh.
“It does! There’s another beautiful gift from Japan here at the Tidal Basin. We’ll come to that a little further down the path.”
Caring for Cherry Trees
The kids walked together around the base of the pagoda, searching for all the symbols. As they walked back toward the path, Imani heard something crunch. She looked down and saw she’d stepped on a discarded snack wrapper.
“Yuck!” she said, picking up the empty wrapper. “People should throw their trash away!”
“That’s a great point,” Ranger Sarah agreed. “Here, I’ll put it in this trash bag,” she offered, stashing it in her pack. “Thank you for picking that up! You know it’s not only important to keep the city beautiful, but trash can be dangerous to wildlife and to the trees.”
“Huh,” Haru said. “I know if animals here eat the trash it that can make them sick or even worse, and if it washes away it will hurt animals that live in the water. But how can trash hurt the trees?”
“Well, what’s trash to us can look like food for scavenging animals such as rats. If there’s lots of trash near the trees, rats will burrow under the ground nearby and the digging can harm the tree roots.”
“Double yuck!” Imani said.
Ranger Sarah laughed. “Well, you did your part to protect the trees today. And we can all encourage our families and friends to be responsible park visitors by packing out all our trash.