The Sakura Matsuri Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival is a one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the United States and serves to bring Japanese food, art, song and dance to whoever would attend the festival. At Notre Dame the celebration was a collaboration of efforts put on by College of Arts and Letters, Center for the Study of Languages & Cultures, EALC, Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, and the Japan Club. All of these groups, along with all Japanese majors, made a collaborative effort in order to make a wonderful showing of what Japanese culture and language is all about.
At Notre Dame this festival was celebrated on Sunday, April 19th at 2:00 pm in LaFortune Ballroom. The location was central and the event was free and open for all who wanted to attend, including students, locals and those from neighboring towns who wished to see the festival.
The festival started off with two hosts speaking in first Japanese and then English to give viewers a well-rounded experience of what a Cherry Blossom festival would be like in Japan. In this manner attendees got to listen to the beautiful Japanese language while seeing amazing performances.
The festival was presented as a series of skits put on by First through 4th year Japanese students that ranged from a performance of a classic Japanese fairy-tale to a remake of a famous Back-Street Boys song that bemoaned the horrors of studying and even a Japanese Idol show that allowed attendees to vote on the best singer with their phones! The myriad of performances showed the depth of Japanese culture.
At the end of the festival there was a recognition of prominent students who had put in work to make the show as great as it was. These students received certificates and gift baskets of various Japanese candy. Not only was Japanese candy given as a prize to those who worked hard on the festival, but there was also a feast of sushi and various candies provided to all who attended the event.
All in all, it was wonderfully hosted festival and brought together much of the community. If you missed it this year, I highly suggest you look out for the festival next year.
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