By Penelope Morris

One of the first things that comes to mind when one thinks about Japan, especially as it relates to DC, is the cherry blossom tree. This tree and its blossoms feature heavily in Japanese culture and symbolize the fleetingness of beauty. They also symbolize the relationship between the US and Japan, as the several thousand trees that grace the banks of the city’s Tidal Basin were a gift from Japan to the US to symbolize the friendship between the two countries. Now, DC celebrates the blooming of the flowers each year with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The part of this weeks-long festival that is most exciting to us is the Sakura Matsuri, a two-day street festival on Pennsylvania Avenue organized by the Japan America Society of Washington DC. The students of Japanese Plus were able to experience the festivities up close from our own booth.

Planning for the festival was chaotic, because we wanted to share so much with the public: what our program is about, what we’ve been learning, how we reach out to the community, and even our anti-Asian hate project. Eventually, we decided to feature the anti-Asian hate project, a children’s coloring station, and an activity where passersby could create quilt panels around the theme of DC loves Japan. We also sold copies of a book created by students in Globalize DC’s summer Japan in DC program.

When we weren’t at our own booth, we had a lot of fun wandering around the festival and taking in everything there was to see. There were arts and crafts, food, educational organizations, and so much more. Not only was it fun to experience the Japanese culture, but there were opportunities to use the language that we had learned in class as well!

The Sakura Matsuri was an amazing experience for all of the Japanese Plus students. We had such a fun time organizing and running the booth, and sharing our program with other people who are passionate about the relationship between Japan and DC.