Over the past several months, designer Selena Joe and the Festival’s poster committee explored different designs to paint a beautiful art piece, and an important element was the kanji. Selena experimented with freedrawing the kanji and utilizing Japanese fonts, but we collectively wanted to capture the full essence of a professionally written kanji. Recalling our…
Selena Joe designed the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival poster and banner with the 2021 theme, 絆 Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship. She recently graduated from Ringling College with a B.F.A. in Motion Design, and we are grateful for Greg Viloria, 2021 Festival Co-Chair, for introducing this artist to our team.…
The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival presents the Give & Gift fundraiser, an opportunity to shop in Japantown while giving back to small businesses and supporting our Festival at the same time. Pick up gift certificates for select retailers at discounted prices, so you can stretch your dollar further while purchasing gifts for your family,…
On behalf of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival (NCCBF) Executive Committee, we are excited to announce the dates for our 54th annual event. The Festival will be held virtually between the hours of 3:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. PDT, on April 10th, 11th, 17th, and 18th, 2021. We will be streaming many of the…
For over 50 years, the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Program has been dedicated to developing young women of Japanese descent to become future community leaders. One of the highlights of our Festival is Queen Program Night, where candidates showcase their speech, interview, and creative expression, and it takes a tremendous amount of time…
If you participated in the NCCBF Scavenger Hunt in the last two to three years, it’s very likely that you were greeted by ClarizeYale’s smile at the second floor entrance of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC/the Center). ClarizeYale is a first-generation Filipina-American artist and illustrator, born and raised in San…
The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC/the Center), in San Francisco Japantown is a unique indoor Festival venue that provides visitors a “one-stop-shop” experience of cultural presentations and performances. This quiet, focused venue allows for various traditional and folk music, dance, and cultural art groups to share their culture and talents. Festival…
Our community is very fortunate to have numerous, seasoned photographers like Mark Shigenaga who beautifully capture memories from every corner of our festival grounds, including the following photos.” Enjoy Mark’s photos of our performers and read more about his experience and future hopes for this Festival! I photographed my first Cherry Blossom Festival in 2009. I arrived…
The holiday season has arrived and what better way to celebrate than to support your local retailers! San Francisco’s Japantown is the perfect place to find that perfect holiday gift for your friends and family (and of course, don’t forget to treat yourself too). Each of the shopping locations rigorously follows San Francisco City’s health…
With the virtual nature of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in 2020 and continued socially distanced plans for the festival in 2021, these recent festivals will certainly be events to remember. Incidentally, our volunteers are no strangers to quickly shifting plans and accommodating needs on the fly. PR/Marketing Committee Co-Chair, Jane Yu, reflects on…
