A stroll underneath the cherry trees: Images from Sister City Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

Cherry blossoms in bloom at the Huntington Beach Central Park in time for the second annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  The cherry trees are a gift from Huntington Beach Sister City, Anjo, Japan. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Consul-General Harry Hidehisa Horinouchi speaks with Huntington Beach high school students who will travel to Japan as part of the Sister City exchange program with Anjo.  The Sister City relationship with Anjo began in 1982. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015)
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RIGHT: An official planting of a new cherry tree in Central Park, with representatives from Anjo, Japan, Consul-General Horinouchi, Huntington Beach Mayor Jill Hardy, and Huntington Beach Sister City president Carmen Erber.  Cherry trees are planted in the park area behind the Huntington Beach Central Library, near a pathway that leads to the Secret Garden. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015)
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LEFT: Cherry blossoms at peak bloom, the Huntington Beach Central Library in the background.  (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved. 

LEFT: A model poses in the Secret Garden, in Huntington Beach Central Park.  Improvements were made to the garden in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

RIGHT: A taiko performance, one of the many performances by musicians, dancers and Noh theater artists at the day-long Cherry Blossom Festival.  The art of taiko in Japan is known to date at least to the 6th century CE. (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Noh performers on their way to the Central Park stage. A classical musical theater art dating back to the 14th Century, it is considered one of the oldest extant theatrical arts in the world.  Of the seven-century history of Noh, the Encyclopaedia Britannica reports, "two factors have allowed the transmission of Noh from generation to generation: first, the preservation of texts containing detailed prescriptions of recitation, dance, mime, and music, and second, the direct and fairly exact transmission of performing skills." (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

RIGHT: One of the many food vendors at the Cherry Blossom Festival, TaNota, offering takoyaki, a ball-shaped fried-batter snack often filled with minced octopus, green onion and ginger, but with many variations. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Takoyaki being prepared on the unique cast iron grill.  There is an art to turning the batter into a crispy snack.  Food items at the Festival included shave ice with azuki beans, Japanese fusion foods, and traditional favorites like sushi and okonomiyaki, a savory Japanese pancake. (Photo, Gregory Roberston, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

RIGHT: Performers waiting to be introduced to a large crowd in Central Park.  An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 visited the Cherry Blossom Festival over the day, many bringing blankets to picnic around Central Park and under the cherry trees. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Opening the Cherry Blossom Festival, Assemblyman Matthew Harper and Mayor Jill Hardy are joined by Consul-General Horinouchi, officials from Sister City Anjo, Japan, Councilman Jim Katapodis, Sister City president Carmen Erber, and Huntington Beach high school students who will travel to Japan as part of the Sister City exchange program. Students from Anjo will visit Huntington Beach later this year.  (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: The Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force was at the Cherry Blossom Festival with an information booth, sharing the Japanese pioneer history of Wintersburg Village, now part of north Huntington Beach.  The Historic Wintersburg mileage sign went pink in honor of the cherry blossoms. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved. 

RIGHT: Visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival stroll near the lake in Central Park.  The park is approximately 350 acres, the cherry trees located in the area behind the Richard and Dion Neutra-designed Central Library. (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Cherry Blossom Festival visitors stroll a cherry tree-lined pathway that leads to the Secret Garden.  In Japan, the tradition of viewing sakura (cherry trees), is known as hanami, or "flower viewing."  (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015)
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RIGHT: A dance group enters the Park, heading toward the stage for their performance. (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

LEFT: Dolls line the table of one of the arts booths at the Cherry Blossom Festival. Visitors lined up to get their name in Japanese in brush calligraphy, try their hand at origami, or purchase books and bonsai trees among the many items for sale at the Festival. (Photo, M. Urashima, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.

RIGHT: A small feathered visitor joined the day's hanami, making a feast of the blossoms.  The date for the Huntington Beach Sister City's Cherry Blossom Festival for next year will be announced, expected for late March when the cherry trees are in peak blooming season. (Photo, Gregory Robertson, March 22, 2015) © All rights reserved.


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