The Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival (former "Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia")Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival
/ref> is an annual spring celebration based on the Japanese custom of ''

Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

'' (cherry blossom viewing). The festival, which is presented by the

Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia The Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP) is a private nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that promotes arts, business, and cultural exchange between the United States and Japan in the Greater Philadelphia region. The organi ...

, commemorates a 1926 gift of 1,600

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

trees from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

History

In honor of the 150th anniversary of

American independence The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and as a gesture of goodwill, the Japanese government donated 1,600 cherry trees and other flowering trees to the City of Philadelphia in 1926. In 1998, continuing the legacy of the original gift of trees, the

made a 10-year pledge to plant 1,000 new cherry blossom trees in Philadelphia. About 250 people attended a dinner at Fairmount Park's Memorial Hall to help fund the costs of buying and planting the first 100 of Philadelphia's new cherry trees. Following that, there was a tree planting ceremony to celebrate the installation of the new cherry trees. The cherry tree planting and fundraising continued for a few years at the same modest level, staying mostly within the Japanese and Japanese-American community in Philadelphia. The celebrations were lively but intimate, as the cherry tree planting project had not yet entered the public's awareness. As the number of cherry blossom trees grew and the tree planting project began to attract more attention, Philadelphia started to become recognized a suitable venue for a Japanese style celebration of spring. In 2003,

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

of America, Inc., located just across the river in Cherry Hill, NJ, increased its support of the cherry tree planting project with title sponsorship, and the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia was born. Two days of events expanded to one full week, and grew again in 2005 to two whole weeks of Japanese cultural festivities. Having completed the ten-year goal of 1,000 tree plantings in 2007, the

created a new 5-year plan to bring cherry blossom trees to 10 community parks throughout the City of Philadelphia. The Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival continues as a means of supporting the ongoing tree planting project, and moreover honoring and celebrating the Japanese government's 1926 gift of goodwill and springtime festivity. 2020 saw the first cancellation caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The festival has been resumed for 2022, and will take place in West Fairmount Park from April 8 to April 10, 2022.

Events

The Shofuso Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia features many cultural events such as music performances, workshops, online concerts and lectures to explore Japanese culture. Sakura Sunday, an outdoor Japanese cultural fair that takes place at the

Horticulture Center Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

, is the festival's largest event. Family and friends come together under the blossoms to experience performances, meet visitors from Japan, and watch the Festival tree planting ceremony.

References

External links

{{commons category
Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia Website
Japanese-American culture in Pennsylvania Festivals in Philadelphia Cultural festivals in the United States Recurring events established in 2003 2003 establishments in Pennsylvania Spring festivals in the United States West Fairmount Park Flower festivals in the United States Cherry blossom festivals

History

Events

See also

References

External links