Cherry trees play a basic role in our country’s founding culture. The legend of George Washington and the cherry tree (although certainly untrue) remains an enduring slice of our collective image of our first president. 

Donated as a goodwill offering from Japan more than 100 years ago, cherry trees, or sakura, fill the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., and are celebrated annually for their spring flowers.

But the rich history of the Cherry Blossom Festival in our nation’s capital pales in comparison to its origination, the 1,000-year-old tradition in Japan. 

Fort Wayne will have its own Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday, May 19, at Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Walb Student Union. The opening ceremony for the annual festival begins at noon, and there are activities planned through 6 p.m. 

Get Artistic

Presented by the Japanese American Association of Indiana, the local Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates Japanese culture in art, music, dance, food, and feats of skill. There is no charge for any of the events, and lots of free parking on the PFW campus.

From noon to 3 p.m. at the skybridge between Walb Student Union and Helmke Library, aspiring artists of all ages can test their skills in creating anime art. All drawing must be done freehand on-site, and there will be prizes in multiple categories and age divisions.

While you’re there, stop by the Walb end of the skybridge to register for the cosplay contest. Registration ends at 3:30 p.m., and costumed participants will gather at the International Ballroom at 4:30 p.m. If you’re more of the audience type, you can watch the contest in the ballroom beginning at 4:45 p.m.

Turn up the music

Traditional Japanese music doesn’t get much airplay on the local FM stations, but it’s an amazing thing to experience live. 

Chicago Okinawa Kenjikai will be at the festival performing an Okinawan drumming dance, the classic dance, and a traditional lion dance called Shishi-Mai at 2 p.m.

Speaking of drums, you won’t want to miss Fort Wayne Taiko at 2:40 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. 

Established in 1997 as a program of Fort Wayne Dance Collective, Fort Wayne Taiko was the first performing taiko group in Indiana and is still one of the few in the Midwest. 

Taiko is a Japanese musical tradition that means “big drum.” You’ve seen the dancing drummers in the movies; it’s a whole other level to hear them play live.

Fort Wayne Suzuki Strings will be showing off the results from the Suzuki Method of musical instruction, which immerses children into the magic of music at a young age. Their 12:15 p.m. performance will feature violin, viola, and cello students, ranging in age from 7-15.

How about something completely different? 

You’d be hard-pressed to find something more “different” than Spirit Bomb, definitely in a good way. 

Well-known for their high-energy live shows, Spirit Bomb are a tribute band performing classic anime songs with stunning visuals. If you know the music, you’ll be singing along with them at 12:40 p.m. If you don’t, you’ll still be blown away.

Taste of Japan

If all that music makes you hungry, you’re in luck. The festival features Taste of Japan, a food vendor alley featuring mouth-watering options you’re unlikely to find every day. 

In this area, you will find All Over Creations producing dango, sticky dessert dumplings on a stick. Right nearby will be Heart of Asian Fusion, putting out kare age (Japanese fried chicken), tempura (Japanese fried other stuff), and donburi (Japanese rice bowl).

Beverages will also feature flavors from the land of the rising sun. 

Kona Shaved Ice will have special Japanese shaved ice flavors. Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck will be there with some Japanese-flavored coffee, boba (bubble tea), and matcha (green tea). Local Apple Cart will offer lavender-flavored ice cream, matcha floats, and milk teas.

Martial Arts and smelling the flowers

Don’t underestimate the importance of tea in Japanese culture and don’t miss the opportunity to understand it better. 

The festival will include a demonstration of the Urasenke style of tea service, a ritualized preparation and presentation of matcha, at 12:45 p.m.

No festival of Japanese culture would be complete without a martial arts demonstration. 

Gotokukan of Indianapolis will offer a demonstration of kendo, the way of the sword at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Kendo teaches one not just to swing the sword, but how to use the body, the mind, and the spirit in harmony to overcome your opponent and any challenges that might lay before you.

Unrelated to kendo but sharing a history stretching hundreds of years, kendama is a popular Japanese skill toy. At first glance it seems like a simple cup and ball on a string, but fans of kendama have practiced for years to develop extraordinary skills with the simple device. Mike Tsugawa, a “3rd Dan” in the Japanese Kendama Association, will demonstrate tricks and techniques 3:45 p.m.

The Japanese culture practices the tradition of hanami, the viewing of spring flowers. Here in northeast Indiana, we don’t have the lovely blooms of cherry trees in nearly the quantity that they have 6,000 miles away on the Japanese Archipeligo, but hanami applies to all flowers, not just cherries.

It’s also not the only Japanese tradition you can learn about right here in town at the Cherry Blossom Festival.