{"id":11615,"date":"2010-05-02T23:45:46","date_gmt":"2010-05-03T03:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=11615"},"modified":"2010-05-03T00:05:13","modified_gmt":"2010-05-03T04:05:13","slug":"sakura-matsuri-ny-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/02\/sakura-matsuri-ny-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Sakura Matsuri NY Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>JQ Magazine<\/a><\/strong> editor Justin Tedaldi<\/a><\/strong> (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) sums up the weekend-long annual event in Brooklyn. Originally published\u00a0for\u00a0Examiner.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a perfect kickoff for the historic months to come,\u201d said New York\u2019s Ambassador and Consul General of Japan Shinichi Nishimiya at the top of the 29th annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at Brooklyn Botanic Garden held the weekend of May 1 and 2. The historic months the ambassador referred to reach back 150 years, when a samurai envoy marched down Broadway in 1860 as part of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the U.S. and Japan, which will be reenacted in June to celebrate the occasion.<\/p>\n

For Japanese, springtime means hanami<\/em>, a custom associated with enjoying the beauty of sakura (cherry blossoms), typically as part of an outdoor party in flower-viewing spots across Japan. While BBG\u2019s sakura were already past their peak bloom before the event due to unseasonably warm weather, tens of thousands of people were still expected to attend over the weekend, according to Kate Blumm, BBG\u2019s communications manager.<\/p>\n

The dozens of performances, cultural exhibitions, art displays, and foods on tap at Sakura Matsuri\u2014not to mention the brilliantly sunny weather\u2014more than compensated for the lack of pink on the trees. After remarks from other speakers including Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, New York\u2019s own Soh Daiko taiko drum ensemble hit the Cherry Esplanade Stage for a surging performance, followed later by classical and Okinawan dance, a martial arts demonstration by World Seido Karate, and a samurai drama representing the more traditional facets of Japan.<\/p>\n

But Sakura Matsuri sported more than just time-honored acts. \u201cWe\u2019ve ramped up the anime, J-pop, and manga sort of things,\u201d said Blumm, noting that organizers have \u201cbeen drawing a completely new crowd since we started J-Lounge. It\u2019s been a big hit.\u201d Located in BBG\u2019s Osborne Garden, J-Lounge became a Mecca for young people with an interest in more contemporary Japanese pop culture. In addition to its manga and anime artist alley, other showcases included anime stand-up comedy, music and dance performances, and a guest appearance by Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> voice actress Veronica Taylor, who gave voice to characters created by Brooklyn-based graphic novel artist Misato Rocks!<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s all about the contrasts,\u201d explained Blumm, observing Sakura Matsuri\u2019s blend of old and new. \u201cBeing immersed in a spectrum of cultural elements, the patrons become part of the festivities.\u201d The most obvious example of this was the multitude of visitors engaging in cosplay, or costume play, a performance art of dressing in elaborate costumes (typically designed by the cosplayer) inspired by characters in Japanese popular fiction.<\/p>\n

Cosplay began in Japan, but now enjoys a devoted following among young Americans, usually at anime and comic book conventions. The fact that more cosplayers have been popping up at Japan-themed gatherings like Sakura Matsuri was not lost on BBG: some of J-Lounge\u2019s top attractions included \u201chigh tea\u201d for lady cosplayers, a performance by artist\/singer Mario Bueno, and the \u201cIron Cosplay\u201d competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do this about two to three times a year,\u201d said attendee Michelle Kwon, who with her two friends resembled characters from the anime and manga series Lucky Star<\/em>, about a group of pastel-haired schoolgirls. \u201cIt\u2019s great being able to recognize other characters that we like from animation. We\u2019ve taken probably hundreds of pictures today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some cosplayers were able to draw crowds of their own based on their costumes. Attendee Ferdinand Garcia and his three friends went as a Naruto<\/em>-inspired ninja warrior clan, and received an unusual photo request from a patron: \u201cWe posed for a lady from Albania who was carrying this fish around with her,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cShe wanted to take pictures of this fish in all these different places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some criticized the cultural mash-up, Attendee Natsumi Onodera from Tokyo said the event was \u201cnot traditional, so I\u2019m afraid non-Japanese people might misunderstand the culture.\u201d Her friend Sachie Hayashida from Fukuoka was blunter: \u201cThere\u2019s no Japanese people here,\u201d she said. Both of them are currently studying abroad in New York, and were invited to Sakura Matsuri by one of the performers.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn resident Kate Russell, a first-time visitor, enjoyed the variety between kimono and cosplay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great. I liked the classic cultural events and ceremonies, but also the modern, like seeing all the characters,\u201d she said. \u201cI will come again next year, because I want to see the cherry blossoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a full schedule and list of performers and events, visit Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s <\/em>website<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JQ Magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) sums up the weekend-long annual event in Brooklyn. Originally published\u00a0for\u00a0Examiner.com. \u201cToday is a perfect kickoff for the historic months to come,\u201d said New York\u2019s Ambassador and Consul General of Japan Shinichi Nishimiya at the top of the 29th annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at Brooklyn Botanic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-31l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11615"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11617,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11615\/revisions\/11617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}