日治時期有許多日本官員、教師、畫家和文人作家，他們透過官方派遣或是寫生旅行等身分與目的，於報刊上發表的圖文結合城市、自然風光的行旅書寫。在風土民俗、熱帶氣候與溫帶家鄉日本完全不同的海島台灣，由日籍文人與畫家敘述的文字與描繪的圖像，勾勒出的殖民地台灣風景，因為目的與觀看視角的不同，讓他們的圖像與文字所隱含的內容與意味往往多於表象所見。本文以小林松僲1907年3月6日到3月19日發表於《台灣日日新報》的21篇〈花不見日記〉為研究主軸，每篇日記皆記載了小林松僲於竹仔湖登山寫生的心情與見聞。 小林松僲〈花不見日記〉以優美俳諧書寫佐以圖像描繪尋櫻卻不見櫻的經過，〈花不見日記〉刊載隔日，《漢文日日新報》便開始連載〈竹仔湖紀行畫〉，以小林松僲的原圖搭配重新創作的漢詩，詩文則多由圖像衍伸而出並未參考原文。竹仔湖的櫻花在外型上雖與日本櫻花稍有不同，卻可視為日本櫻花的移植，櫻花所在地——竹仔湖，成為日本馴化後的「風景」，台灣也成為日本收編的「國土」。《台灣日日新報》與《漢文日日新報》藉由刊載小林松僲尋櫻不見櫻，珍愛的櫻花在寫生登山之旅扮演關鍵角色，櫻花成為一種教化啟蒙之工具，使日本殖民統治更具正統性，於是櫻花之所在之地，即是帝國所在。

Many Japanese travelers from a variety of professions, including officials, teachers, writers and painters, came to Taiwan to live or travel during the Japanese colonial period. Living on an island where the climate and culture were different from Japan, these travelers, particularly the writers and painters, were able to present pictures and sceneries based on their experiences of Taiwan, which revealed overlapping, yet discernible visual images. Kobayashi Shousen’s traveling-writing “Diary of invisible flowers” written in gorgeous “Haiku” illustrated with paintings depicts the process of seeking sakura, but failing. After “Diary of invisible flowers” was published, th Taiwan Daily News Chinese Edition immediately started to serialize “Travel Painting of Jhuzihu.” Although the paintings of Jhuzihu are the same as “Diary of Invisible Flowers,” the content is completely different for the translator came up with his own text based on the original pictures. It is reasonable for the Japanese to claim that Taiwan is part of Japan because of the similar sakura and scenery found in “Jhuzihu.” Taiwan Daily News and its Chinese version published Kobayashi Shousen’s traveling writing “Diary of Invisible Flowers” to reinforce the idea that “The place where sakura grows belongs to the Japan Empire.”