What Kizuna Means to Me ft. Kazanami Yosakoi Dance Showcase

The 54th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival’s theme is Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship. The 2021 Festival gave us the opportunity to celebrate the kizuna spirit with our Festival partners, cultural performers and exhibitors, nonprofit organizations, and community and corporate supporters. In lieu of the Grand Parade, the Festival’s Executive […]

What Kizuna Means to Me ft. Kazanami Yosakoi Dance Showcase

The 54th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival’s theme is Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship. The 2021 Festival gave us the opportunity to celebrate the kizuna spirit with our Festival partners, cultural performers and exhibitors, nonprofit organizations, and community and corporate supporters. In lieu of the Grand Parade, the Festival’s Executive […]

Kazanami: A Blossoming Community of Yosakoi Dance

I’m Daniel Rolandi, Director of Ito Yosakoi, which is based in San Francisco Japantown, and I’m happy to write this blog post to share Kazanami’s history with the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival and our excitement to participate in the 2021 Festival. Since 2017, Ito Yosakoi (糸よさこい) has performed yosakoi, an energetic dance style from […]

Kazanami: A Blossoming Community of Yosakoi Dance

I’m Daniel Rolandi, Director of Ito Yosakoi, which is based in San Francisco Japantown, and I’m happy to write this blog post to share Kazanami’s history with the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival and our excitement to participate in the 2021 Festival. Since 2017, Ito Yosakoi (糸よさこい) has performed yosakoi, an energetic dance style from […]

Reflections of Tohoku Preview

We premiered Reflections of Tohoku as our 2021 Festival’s short documentary film. The 54th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival will commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake with our 2021 Festival theme, Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship. We embarked on a socially distanced documentary project over the past […]

Reflections of Tohoku Preview

We premiered Reflections of Tohoku as our 2021 Festival’s short documentary film. The 54th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival will commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake with our 2021 Festival theme, Kizuna – Strength through Bonds of Community and Friendship. We embarked on a socially distanced documentary project over the past […]

Sapporo Beer Garden Committee

April 7th is National Beer Day, and we are pleased to share reflections and supportive messages from key members of our Sapporo Beer Garden Committee!  Sapporo Beer Garden serves thousands of visitors every year, operating multiple tents in the Food Bazaar and near the Japantown Peace Plaza and Webster Street Stage.  We are grateful for […]

Sapporo Beer Garden Committee

April 7th is National Beer Day, and we are pleased to share reflections and supportive messages from key members of our Sapporo Beer Garden Committee!  Sapporo Beer Garden serves thousands of visitors every year, operating multiple tents in the Food Bazaar and near the Japantown Peace Plaza and Webster Street Stage.  We are grateful for […]

Meet the Calligraphy Artist: Kawahatsu Sensei

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 […]

Meet the Calligraphy Artist: Kawahatsu Sensei

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 […]