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An Insider's View Of Sakura Matsuri
By Gil Asakawa
July 18, 2001

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This year's event was hotter than usual -- the temperature flirted with the 100-degree mark, especially on the second day. The thousands of people that attended Sakura Matsuri also deserve a big thanks, for coming out in spite of the heat. The temperature wasn't bad if you were inside the church to eat or explore the many cultural displays, lectures and demonstrations, but outside the heat was worse than oppressive. The martial arts groups all avoided the encroaching sun on the stage so they wouldn't burn their bare feet. One brave troupe demonstrated some karate moves on the pavement in front of the stage and the group's sensei later admitted his feet were in pain ... despite the fact that he had just broken a baseball bat with his shin. All weekend, a line of grateful festival-goers stood against the mist sprayer for a brief cool respite and people took their hot plastic folding chairs and sought out the spotty shade from the trees along Lawrence avenue.

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The entertainment stage, where I stayed most of the weekend, was well-attended even when the sun blasted down. It's become customary to open and close each day with taiko drumming, and the Denver Buddhist Temple's Denver Taiko group had its Junior Taiko members play at the start and the full professional ensemble close out each day to roaring crowds. In between, the traditional dancing by various groups ranging in age from pre-schoolers to adults introduced audiences to the beauty and grace of Japanese dances. For music, there was everything from karaoke singing of old-fashioned "enka" pop songs to the traditional singing called shigin of Chinese-style poetry, the pretty cascading harp-like sounds of the koto and the haunting, haunted sound of the shakuhachi, or Japanese bamboo flute. Two breeds of Japanese dogs were showcased, the Shiba Inu and Akita (dogs are always a hit with the audience, and thankfully there were no "accidents" on the stage as they were introduced). As always, there was a healthy helping of martial arts representing aikido, karate, judo, tai chi, and others.

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And this year, the Sakura Matsuri planning committee invited a Florida entertainer, Masaji Terasawa, to come and perform his street entertainment throughout the festival. He practices the art of "Amesaiku," making strikingly creative sculptures out of heated rice syrup candy which he draws out of a cart. He combines his artistry with a great deal of comedy and slapstick and magic, and "the Candy Man" captivated audiences that gathered around him on the street, the sidewalk or in the church, wherever he rolled his cart.

He added a new twist on the community's cultural outreach, and reminded me that Sakura Matsuri is an important event for a number of reasons.

It's all too easy to forget why we do this. Sakura Matsuri is an external celebration of Japanese culture in a world that is increasingly ethnically diverse, and an expression of how Japanese can fit within the larger community. It's an internal celebration of Japanese traditions to the Japanese American community, where the passing of generations can sometimes fade away the reasons for all the cultural rituals like a silk cloth sitting too long in the sun. It's also a time for the entire Japanese community to get together and catch up after not seeing each other for a whole year. And, it is simply a way to connect our humanity with each other, and pull together to accomplish one great public display every year.

I'm looking forward to Sakura Matsuri 2002, hot sun and all.

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Gil Asakawa writes a weekly column of pop culture and politics from a Japanese American perspective. You can reach Gil's website at http://nikkeiview.com.