The Los Angeles Cherry Blossom Festival took place on September 24-25, 2011 in Little Tokyo. It was unusual to have a cherry blossom viewing in the fall. Originally, the cherry blossom festival is in March where Little Tokyo turns into a street fair full of food booths and cultural displays. Much like its cousin event, Nisei Week, the event draws much attention from the Japanese American community. Because of the tsunami in March, the event was delayed to September. Much of the businesses in Little Tokyo were shaken by the news having to rebook the event for a later date. However, the show did go on.

The Cherry Blossom Festival was different this year. Scarlet Rhapsody only attended for one day; the day of the cosplay contest as Victoria as asked to judge. Prior to the contest, we checked out Little Tokyo. It seemed that the event was moved to a parking lot on Temple and Alameda. This was different. While we did not mind paying the $1 entrance fee, the environment felt different from the previous year.

The team went around the booths. Much like last year, there were vendors selling vintage Japanese garb, cute character items, and food. Unfortunately, there was not much in the food selection. While I did like the popcorn chicken and honey tea from the Mighty Boba, the team was disappointed in the lack of Dogzilla and variety of Japanese food vendors. However, there were still cultural shows and displays – martial arts demonstrations and traditional Japanese dance.

Pacific Media Expo invited us to help them out with the J-Pop stage. The J-Pop stage had local musicians (Stephanie Yanez) and performers (AniMaid Café and Mochi Café) entertaining audiences of all ages. PMX also had a swap meet. If anyone was looking for anime goods, the PMX swap meet was the place to find some hidden treasures.

The cosplay contest was delayed to 2:45PM. The judges were Victoria and PMX guest, Dolly Delight. There were plenty of first time costumers competing. There were also some regulars from Nisei Week and the convention circuit that threw their hat in the ring. After 30 walk-ons, the judges made a decision. This is how it broke down:

Audience Choice: Kite (dot hack)
Most Spirited: Gaara (Naruto)
Third Place: Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark Zero)
Second Place: Chun Li (Street Fighter)
First Place: Princess Zelda (Zelda: Four Swords)

After the contest, V3 Cosplay Syndicate had an after party at the Little Tokyo Mall. The team feeling rather hungry went to Curry House for a delicious meal. Nothing like ending the day with tropical iced tea!

Overall, LA Cherry Blossom Festival was a fine event. Granted that the community had to face adverse conditions to bring this event back for the fall, it was very well run. Hopefully, this will be back in full force in the spring time.

More Photos from Los Angeles Cherry Blossom Festival

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