Fun at the DC Sakura Matsuri 2019

By Skywing Knights // April 20, 2019

Hello everyone!

Very quick overview of the event I attended last week, DC’s Sakura Matsuri, the ending event of the Cherry Blossom Festival held annually in DC in celebration of the the first 2000 Cherry Blossom trees gifted to Washington DC from Tokyo to enhance the growing relations between the two countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfGC27IbFc&t=51s

Hosted by the Japan-America Society of Washington, DC, this annual event brings together the best of Japanese culture all in the heart of Washington, DC. From clothes to art, Kyudo to Shodo, and from Japanese Cuisine to Pop Culture, there’s a little bit of everything at this fantastic event.

I was able to make it out there around mid-day on Saturday with my roommate. We walked around, ate food, and talked with various vendors. In addition, we even got to see some long time friends that I haven’t seen in ages! (I’m so glad to be back on the East Coast!) It was beautiful to see all of the art and culture from Japan. It was very ‘natsukashi’ (nostalgic) for me too.

I loved seeing images of Japan in Kanagawa, watching the fishing games they had for kids that are popular at festivals, seeing the efforts being made by various organizations to teach Japanese language, and tasting all of the sweet and savory things that normally in the states I never get the chance to see. It makes me very grateful that the US and Japan have such strong ties and relations in today’s day and age.

If you ever get the chance to go to these wonderful events, I highly encourage you to do so. There’s so much to see and learn about Japan at these DC Sakura Matsuri events. By doing so, you support the Japan-America Society of Washington, DC. It’s a wonderful organization dedicated to the strengthening of US-Japan relations. Additionally, they focus on spreading knowledge of Japanese Culture here in the United States.