Cherry Blossom Festival 桜祭りThank you for joining us for the 18th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival! On March 29, thousands of visitors gathered under the blooming cherry blossoms at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to celebrate Japanese culture at our annual festival. It was a joyful day filled with cultural performances, hands-on activities, delicious food, and community connection. We were honored to showcase a diverse lineup of performances that brought energy and authenticity to the celebration, including the Briarwood Japanese Children’s Club, a dynamic Soran Bushi dance, the Birmingham Kendo Club, Geni Skendo, The Saddekni Trio, and Shinkendo of Birmingham. Each performance highlighted a unique aspect of Japanese or Japanese-influenced culture and artistry. We are incredibly grateful to our amazing volunteers, performers, vendors, and Sakura sponsors—Honda, Clayco, Madison Metal Processing, Page & Jones, Samford University, and The University of West Alabama. Your support plays a vital role in making this beloved event possible each year. A heartfelt thank you to Consul General Maeda for attending the festival and sharing his kind words, and to the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens and their dedicated volunteers for their ongoing partnership and commitment to preserving the beauty of the Japanese Garden. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Katie, our wonderful photographer, who beautifully captured so many memorable moments from the day! Thank you again to everyone who came out to celebrate with us—we can’t wait to see you again next year! |
Performance Schedule: 10:00 – 10:30: Opening Ceremony10:30 – 11:00: Briarwood Japanese Children’s Club 11:00 – 11:30: Soran Bushi 11:30 – 12:00: Birmingham Kendo Club 12:45 – 1:45: Geni Skendo 2:00 – 2:45: The Saddekni Trio 3:00 – 3:45: Shinkendo of Birmingham | Guests and Activities (Subject to change): Alabama Bonsai Society・Birmingham Go Club・Birmingham Kendo Club・Birmingham Museum of Art・Birmingham Quilter's Guild・Birmingham Sister Cities・Briarwood Japanese Children's Club・Cafe Baboy・Calligraphy・Chiharu Roach・Consul General of Japan in Atlanta・Geni Skendo・Glitter Critter Studios・Hometown Supermarket・Homewood Public Library・Masquerade Face Paint・Nori Thai and Sushi・On The Run Concessions・Origami・PaperWorkers Local・Shinkendo of Birmingham・Soran Bushi・The Saddekni Trio・UAB ArtPlay ・UAB Japanese Culture Club・Urasenke Birmingham Association・Wisteria Woods Boutique・Yuko Hoshino |
Thank you to our 2025 Sakura Sponsors!
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Thank you for joining the 17th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival!This year’s Cherry Blossom Festival was held March 30th at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The cherry blossoms bloomed beautifully for the more than 7,000 guests who attended this year’s festival. We are proud to have been able to host performances like Daikin Taiko Force, Choko Aiken, the Briarwood Japanese Children’s Club and more. Guests were also able to enjoy Japanese cultural activities, food, and an array of vendors this year. We are immensely grateful for these contributions and the sponsors who made this possible. We give thanks to the Tennessee Valley Authority, Clayco, Page & Jones, Samford University, and the University of West Alabama. We are also grateful to the gardens for their partnership with us to host the festival as well as all of the work their staff and volunteers put into making the festival happen. Finally, we are thankful to Consul General Maeda for his support and presence throughout the festival. We would also like to extend a congratulations to Ms. Ritsuko Asano for receiving the Consul General’s Commendation award. She has been a prominent figure for the Japanese community in Birmingham as an Urasenke tea instructor. In doing so she has continued to share opportunities with others to experience the tea ceremony and Japanese culture in the Birmingham area. |
Schedule: 10:00 – 10:30: Opening Ceremony 10:30 – 11:00: Briarwood Japanese Children’s Club 11:15 – 12:00: Daikin Taiko Force 12:15 – 12:35: Birmingham Kendo Club 12:50 – 1:20: Aikido Alabama 1:45 – 2:30: Choko Aiken 2:45 – 3:15: Shinkendo of Birmingham 3:30 – 4:00: Closing Remarks |
Guests and Activities:
Aikido Alabama・Alabama Bonsai Society・Asha Kiran・Birmingham Kendo Club・Birmingham Museum of Art・Birmingham Quilter's Guild・Birmingham Sister Cities・Briarwood Japanese Children's Club・Bubble Nuggets・Calligraphy・Chiharu Roach・Choko Aiken・Consul General of Japan in Atlanta・Crows Like Candy・Daikin Taiko Force・Glitter Critter Studios・Holbein Pottery・Hometown Supermarket・Ikebana・Nori Thai and Sushi・North Shelby Library・Origami・On The Run Concessions・PaperWorkers Local・Shinkendo of Birmingham・UAB Japanese Culture Club・Urasenke Birmingham Association
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Thank you to our Sakura Sponsors!
Thank you for joining the 16th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival: April 1, 2023!The 16th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival was held on April 1 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The festival attracted more than 4,000 people from all over Alabama. People enjoyed a beautiful sunny day with Japanese cultural activities, food, music, and performances at the Japanese Gardens. JASA welcomed Consul General Maeda, Birmingham City Council President Wardine Alexander, Daikin Taiko Force, Hiroya Tsukamoto and more! It was the first in-person Cherry Blossom Festival since 2019 and was a meaningful cultural celebration for people in Alabama, especially the Birmingham and Central Alabama Japanese communities. We sincerely appreciate everyone involved: sponsors, Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, volunteers, performers, and vendors for making this happen. We look forward to seeing you again next year! |
SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)10:00 – 10:30: Opening Ceremony - Remarks from Japan-America Society of Alabama, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, City of Birmingham, Consul General of Japan in Atlanta 10:45 – 11:15: Briarwood Japanese Children’s Club Performance 11:30 – 12:00: Shinkendo of Birmingham 12:15 – 12:45: LeRon Harrison Gagaku Music Performance 1:15 – 2:00: Daikin Taiko Force 2:30 – 3:15: Hiroya Tsukamoto 3:30 – 4:00: Closing Remarks | Guests and activitiesAlabama Bonsai Society, Asha Kiran, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham Quilter's Guild, Briarwood Japanese Children's Club, Calligraphy, Chiharu Roach, Civil Stoneware, Consul General of Japan in Atlanta, Daikin Taiko Force, Glitter Critter Studios, Hiroya Tsukamoto, Holbein Pottery, Hometown Supermarket, LeRon Harrison, Nori Thai and Sushi, Origami, PaperWorkers Local, Shinkendo of Birmingham, UAB Japanese Culture Club, Urasenke Birmingham Association |
Thank you to our Sakura Sponsors!
Mr. Kozo Matsuda 
Join us for YouTube Live performances, special interviews, and messages from your favorite Cherry Blossom Festival Guests and performers! Visit this page on March 27th for a full day of Japanese culture through video.
See below for a list of participants and stay tuned for a full schedule for the day! We'll be updating our event with content throughout the month of March so you can appreciate Japanese culture throughout Cherry Blossom Season.
Featuring...
A.C.T. Defense Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham Public Library's Miss Iwate
Birmingham Shinkendo Federation
Calligraphy Demonstration Shuji
Japanese Flower Arranging Ikebana
Mark Jackson, Honorary Consul General of Japan
Paperworkers Local Moku Hanga
...and more!
Live performances:
10:00am -12:00 pm Zoom Demonstration of Moku Hanga
Register for the Zoom Webinar here!
1:00pm Facebook Live Demonstration: Birmingham International Shinkendo Federation
Watch live on our Facebook page here!
3:30pm Zoom Interview Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu
For information and photos from previous years' Cherry Blossom Festivals, see below.
14th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival: March 16, 2019
2019 Past Performances ScheduleBRIARWOOD JAPANESE CHILDREN’S CLUB PERFORMANCE DAIKIN AMERICA TAIKO PERFORMANCE BIRMINGHAM SHINKENDO DEMONSTRATION DAIKIN AMERICA TAIKO PERFORMANCE SHAKUHACHI PERFORMANCE A.C.T. DEFENSE BUJINKAN BUDO TAIJUTSU DEMONSTRATION |
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| Guests and ActivitiesA.C.T. DEFENSE ALABAMA BONSAI SOCIETY ALABAMA MULTICULTURAL ORGANIZATION (AMOR) BIRMINGHAM QUILTERS GUILD BIRMINGHAM SHINKENDO JAPANESE SWORDMANSHIP GROUP BIRMINGHAM URASENKE ASSOCIATION BRIARWOOD JAPANESE CHURCH BOWMAN ACCESSORIES CALLIGRAPHY CHILDREN’S CHOIR CONSUL GENERAL OF JAPAN DAIKIN AMERICA TAIKO TEAM IKEBANA JAPAN CAFE KENDAMA USA ORIGAMI ROBIN RAY CRAFTS SHAKUHACHI TARA ATKINS CRAFTS PAPERWORKERS LOCAL |
