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The Cherry Blossom Festival was co-founded in 2002 by Wendy Fujihara Anderson and Michael Motoyasu. The original goal of the Festival was to administer Japanese and Japanese American cultural events and bridge generations, and to expose the mainstream population to these cultural arts. Kellye Nakahara Wallett served as a ‘spokesperson’ and Ambassador. Since Wendy and Kellye were both residents of the city, Pasadena, California became the initial location of the Festival.
Wendy Fujihara Anderson was born, raised and continues to reside in the City of Pasadena. Born shortly after World War II (her parents met while incarcerated at Manzanar), she was brought up with minimal Japanese culture and heritage due to the hatred of the Japanese following the war. After the death of both her parents in 1997, her cultural heritage started taking on a bigger meaning.
Kellye Nakahara Wallett is an actress (best known as Nurse Kellye in the TV series M*A*S*H for 11 years) and watercolor artist as well as a lifelong resident of Pasadena. She currently serves as a Commissioner on the Pasadena Arts Council. For many years, Kellye and Wendy discussed the idea of creating a “Camp Stories” video about concentration camp life to expose the rich Japanese American culture to mainstream America. One day, during a filming interview for a cable show at Kellye’s home, Wendy and Kellye along with Michael Motoyasu started discussing the Japanese/Japanese American culture and the how it could be promoted to mainstream America. With that, the Cherry Blossom Festival was born.
For the first 5 years, the Cherry Blossom Festival was held in Pasadena, California. During that time, through donations from The East West Federation, the Festival was able to donate 500 Cherry Blossom trees to the City. The majority of those trees are planted in Victory Park and along the Sierra Madre Blvd. median near Victory Park.
L.A. City Councilmember Jan Perry’s office consistently called inviting the Festival to move to Los Angeles. In 2007, it became a reality when the Festival moved from its current home in Pasadena to the Little Tokyo District of Los Angeles. The Festival was then renamed The Cherry Blossom Festival of Southern California and has been there ever since.
The Festival is now in its 8th year and will be held on April 4th and 5th 2009. It is a free admission festival with the main entrance point at 1st Street & Central near the Hawaiian Village. However, the Festival will also stretch into Lot 7 (between the Japanese American National Museum and East West Players) and into the Japanese Village Plaza. It is produced by a 100% volunteer team, which includes more than 200 day of event volunteers as well as volunteer entertainment and performers. It is supported by private donations and sponsors and boasts a 2008 attendance of over 30,000.
Please come and enjoy a day of fun at the Cherry Blossom Festival Southern California.
2009 CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
WENDY FUJIHARA ANDERSON, President
BOB ESTRIN Vice President Logistics
KEVIN LEE, Vice President Entertainment/Marketing
DOROTHY TAMASHIRO, Vice President Volunteers
NADINE WASHINGTON, Vice President Awards
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