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The San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival took place on April 22, 2006. Traveling Valentine (Tom and myself) decided to take the opportunity to conduct interviews for our video project. Rumors of rainy weather allowed the two of us to do simple, yet practical cosplay - Henrietta and Jose from Gunslinger Girl. We entered the cosplay contest hosted by Japan Video for fun. We were at the half way point at 50 and 51. 

We arrived at around 10:30 to Civic Center via the M Line. By the time we hit the grassy meeting point, there were a ton of cosplayers and anime fans anticipating the judging to start. The something percent of showers did not stop these anime fans from cosplaying.

Tom and I conducted a few interviews of the cosplayers - Pikmin Link, Christophe, Diana, Rico, and others. Thank you guys for lending your insight and commentary to our documentary.

It was time for the judges to announce the winners. Well, Traveling Valentine did not get anything, but that's all right. We all got pocky in the end! Congrats to all the Cherry Blossom Festival cosplay winners. 

Then it came to march up that walk to Japan Town. Luckily for me, I wore my Payless tennis shoes so I could survive the uphill battle. Tom kept shooting during the parade. I took pictures along the parade route. Ray Nagar lead us into Japan Town. The cosplayers decided what chants to come up with on the way. Chants ranged from "Pocky! Pocky!" to...I really don't know what else. Mayor Gavin Newsome was just right behind the winners float. 

By the time we hit the Japan Town, there were many people cheering for us. We spotted our friends in the crowd (mainly the guys from Anime FX). Again, another really fun year. (And thanks Astro for reminding me of what happened last year with that scary lecherous old man...)

Rico and Jen wanted to go grab lunch with us. I suggested On the Bridge. We passed through tons and tons of crowd traffic and finally reserved a table. Claudine had trouble finding her group, so she decided to join us for lunch. Of course, cosplayers gathering together over food and drink is the best part of any anime event.

In this case, On the Bridge messed up Tom's order. They told us his order was on the house, but we find out later, it was not. No tip for them! 

For the rest of the time, Tom and I just mingled around the Peace Plaza area with friends. We got our freebies for participating in the parade. Of course, we caught up with friends we haven't seen in a while. Afterwards, it was time to head back home. A few days later, I turned to channel eight and there was a repeat showing of the parade. Though only snippets of the parade were shown (unlike the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade or the Pasadena Tournament of Roses), it was nice to see all of us on television, and the other exhibitions the parade had to offer. 

I did see the other Cherry Blossom Festival related sights prior to the parade - the traditional Japanese dances, tea ceremonies, martial arts demonstrations, and paper doll and origami exhibits. San Francisco Japan Town's Cherry Blossom Festival is more than the the anime cosplay parade. And Tom recommends to avoid eating at On the Bridge. Hopefully, Traveling Valentine will make it for next year when Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates it's centennial. 

Pictures are copyright by Victoria Erica. If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. If you want me to remove something, kindly email me. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This con report was brought to you by the font Yellow Submarine.