Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco's Japantwon

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. October 14, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 12, 2007. Twin anniversaries will be marked at this year's Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, April 14-15 and April 21-22, 2007.This is the 40th annual festival and also the 50th anniversary of San Francisco's Sister City relationship with Osaka, Japan. San Francisco's historic Japantown also celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

A friendship reception will be held on Friday, April 20 at the Miyako Hotel, 1625 Post St. in San Francisco's Japantown, to welcome more than 300 participants from Japan to this year's celebration. San Francisco's Sister City relationship with Osaka is one of the first Sister City relationships between the United States and Japan and is the oldest of San Francisco's 14 Sister City relationships. Mayor Gavin Newsom recently led a delegation of city officials to Osaka to commemorate the relationship, which was established on Oct. 7, 1957.

The 40th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, always one of California's most splendid celebrations, draws more than 150,000 people to a dazzling display of Japanese culture and tradition. Most of the 90-plus events and activities are free and headquartered at the Japan Center, Post and Buchanan streets. For more information on the festival, contact the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival at 415-563-2313 or visit www.nccbf.org.

The 2007 Cherry Blossom Queen Program will be held on Saturday, April 14, at the Sundance Kabuki Theater, 1881 Post St., from 7 to 10 pm. Admission is $25. To secure tickets, contact Toshi Mitsuda, 650-871-9287. Six women are competing for the title this year: Sarah Kumiko Fedaie, Sonoma, CA; Mariko Kobayashi, Daly City, CA; Haseena Ashina Mohabbat, Fremont, CA; Sawako Sonoyama, San Francisco; Martha Tomiko Hayakawa, Antioch, CA; and Megumi Jennifer Kaminaga, San Francisco.

For two consecutive weekends, visitors can view artwork, Japanese textile displays, classical dance performances, Yosakoi performance with more than 125 dancers, martial art combat, elaborate ikebana/bonsai/suiseki exhibits, origami exhibits and demonstrations, tea ceremonies and calligraphy. Local bands will be on stage both weekends at the Comcast Webster Street Stage, and the Kids Zone along Webster and Fillmore streets on the first weekend of the parade is always popular with chibi-chan (little children).

The real temptations, however, are to be found in the food bazaar on Webster Street where "almost like home" delights include sushi, takoyaki (tiny bits of octopus in a wheat flour dumpling), imagawayaki (cakes with sweet bean filling), teriburgers and, with a nod to the islands, Hawaiian rice plates and SPAM musubi.

Also on the festival calendar is the U.S.-Japan Taiko Festival. The event, which is enormously popular, features the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and special guest performers. Performance time is 7 pm on April 21 at the Sundance Kabuki Theater, 1881 Post St. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and students. To purchase tickets call 415-92-TAIKO (928-2456) or visit www.taikodojo.org.

The Cherry Blossom Festival celebration reaches full bloom on Sunday, April 22 with the grand parade, which starts at 1 pm from City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Proceeding north on Polk street to Post street, west on Post to the Japan Center, the parade features magnificently costumed dancers and musicians (traditional and contemporary); festival Queens from other cities; floats; taiko drummers; scores of men and women carrying mikoshi (portable shrines). The grand finale consists of an undulating conga line bearing the taru mikoshi (sake barrel shrine).

Susumu Saiki, a long-time volunteer for the Cherry Blossom Festival for more than 40 years, is the grand marshal of the parade. Toichi Takenaka, chairman of the Osaka-San Francisco Sister City Association, will lead a delegation from Osaka.

Public transit options include the 38 Geary, 2 Clement or 3 Jackson San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) buses from downtown San Francisco. For Muni information, call 511. There are two indoor parking garages in the Japan Center. Entrances are located on Geary between Laguna and Webster, Post between Webster and Laguna and also on Fillmore between Geary and Post. A shuttle service will also be provided from the California Pacific Medical Center garage at 2405 Clay St. at Webster from noon to 6 pm on April 14-15 and 21, and from 11 am to 6 pm on parade day, April 22.

Even if one should happen to miss this double weekend Japanese confection, there is no reason to despair. Still ahead are the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, May 5, 2007 on Howard Street; Summer Obon Festival, July 2007, and Nihonmachi Street Fair, Aug. 11-12, 2007.

From June 2-Sept. 9, the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., is the exclusive U.S. venue for Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga. Regarded in Japan as "The God of Comics and Animation," Osamu Tezuka is an icon in the world of manga (Japanese comics) and revered as an artistic master. This major exhibition-the first of its kind outside of Japan-features more than 200 original drawings, paintings, and more. The fifth annual Japantown Anime Faire at Fort Mason Center is also on the schedule in September.

One of only three Japantowns remaining in the United States (the others are located in San Jose and Los Angeles), San Francisco's Nihonmachi (nihon means Japan and machi means town) is the oldest of the three and a cultural headquarters for some 12,000 residents of Japanese descent.

For general information on hotel packages and reservations; events; activities and transportation in San Francisco, visit www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com. For lodging reservations, call 800-637-5196 within North America or 415-391-2000 elsewhere.