Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival: Time to stop and smell the sakura

For eight hours a day, Angel Perez sits in front of a screen as a troubleshooting computer technician. His free hours are spent juggling friends and family, leaving him little time to relax.

"I'm doing 25 things at work and 125 things in my personal life," said Perez, 38, of North Philadelphia. "There are all the stresses we all have."

But every April, Perez finds peace under the blooming cherry trees in Fairmount Park during the annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival. Perez, who began volunteering at the event about five years ago, said he can feel the tensions of work and everyday living melt away when he joins others in celebrating these signs of new life.

"It's almost like being in a different world," Perez said. "I get chills just thinking of it."

Now in its 17th year, the festival, which began Wednesday and runs through April 13, has grown from a one-day event to weeks of programming in the city and suburbs. Last year, the festival's final showcase, Sakura Sunday, drew more than 10,000 people.

"It's a great celebration of all things Japanese," said Aaron Dilliplane, assistant director of the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, which organizes the festival.

While there are only a few thousand people of Japanese heritage in the Philadelphia region, "the culture is becoming increasingly popular, particularly among younger people who enjoy anime, manga, and the martial arts," he said.

Japanese cherry trees came to Philadelphia in 1926, when Japan presented the city with more than 1,600 trees to celebrate the country's 150th birthday. (Japan had given Washington its now-famous cherry trees a few years earlier.)

In 1998, the local Japan America Society pledged to bring in 1,000 additional trees, a goal reached within 10 years. Since then, the society has continued to plant cherry trees across the city, mostly in community parks and arboretums including Clark Park and Franklin Square.

In Japan, the flowering cherry trees, known as sakura, signal the return of spring. The beautiful blooms are short-lived - they last about two weeks - which makes them also a metaphor for fleeting youth and beauty. They are popular subjects of painting and poetry, and their yearly return is celebrated with flower-viewing picnics and festivals throughout the country, as the "blossom front" moves north from March to May.

Philadelphia's celebration marks a similar pause to savor spring - particularly welcome this year after a long, tough winter.

"During the festival, when we stop and appreciate the cherry blossoms, we're taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of spring. In Japan, that's very important, to appreciate the cycles we go through," said festival volunteer Reed Apostol, 28, of New Holland. "We're also taking time to stop and appreciate another culture."

Apostol, who has taught English in Japan, said she often helps during hands-on programs like calligraphy.

"There are so many people just having fun," she said. "You'll have Japanese who just pick up the calligraphy brushes and feel at home, and they're sharing their culture with people who don't know what they're looking at but they want to learn."

She's also a fan of the kimono dressing lesson, to be held Wednesday at Center City's Liberty Place Rotunda. Wearing this traditional garb correctly requires a challenging series of draping and folding actions.

"You can't throw on a kimono the same way you throw on jeans and a shirt," she said. "These classes aren't easy to find, and the fact that we have a great teacher in Philadelphia is very exciting."

Some of the events, like the performances by Tamagawa University's Taiko Drum and Dance team, are always popular draws, a "can't miss highlight," Dilliplane said. They'll be taking place in various locations, from Philadelphia's Painted Bride to Swarthmore, Haverford, and Westtown, from Friday through Tuesday.

Also on the schedule: demonstrations and workshops in sushi-making and origami; film screenings; dining opportunities; a tea ceremony, and the Cherry Blossom 5K on April 12. Chestnut Hill's Morris Arboretum will offer Japanese cultural activities among its own cherry trees on April 12 and 19.

New this year, Dilliplane said, is "Sakura Under the Stars," a traditional-style viewing party, known as ohanami, beneath the trees at Fairmount Park's "hidden treasure," Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, on April 12. Sushi and sake are on the menu. (Advance tickets are required.) Blankets will be available for those who want an authentic experience.

"It's a picnic under the blossoms," he said. "In Japan, it's when friends and family go into the parks with food and drinks and just enjoy."

Perez said he's excited to bring his girlfriend's 6-year-old son to the festival. The boy enjoyed it last year and recently asked when they could go again.

"He said, 'Mr. Angel, are we going to the other world?' " Perez said with a laugh. "I know how he feels."

The 17th Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival Through April 13 in Fairmount Park and other venues. For more information, visit http://subarucherryblossom.org/.EndText