2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of the original gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States in 1912. Planted at the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River in the nation's capital and supplemented with more cherry trees over the years, the blossoming cherry trees of Washington DC have become a national treasure and attract hundreds of thousands of viewers to the "Cherry Blossom Festival" along the Potomac each spring.

Japan will mark this Centennial with new gifts of cherry trees to Washington and to a number of other American cities, Boston among them. The Consulate General of Japan in Boston will arrange ceremonial cherry tree plantings in many Boston parks and public places. To accompany the new cherry trees, planning is now underway for a rich festival of Japanese cultural events in Boston, beginning in March 2012 and spanning more than three springtime months.

This spring also the one-year anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region. Memorial events to commemorate the disaster and fundraising events to support those affected by the tragedy will also be held at this time.

Anime Boston is a proud supporter of the Centennial Celebration of the Gift of Trees and the Japan Spring Festival in Boston initiatives. For more information about related events, please check the Japan Society of Boston's website at http://www.japansocietyboston.org/sakura/eng, and the Festival website at http://www.japanfestivalboston.org/.

I'm really excited reading all this! Will definitely be attending the Haru Matsuri on April 29th!!

I'm soooo excited for this! Yet another trip I need to make to Boston, though! Man April is an expensive month!!

Don't worry; I'll be there on April 29--and also at the Kabuki performance on 3/27!

This is awesome. I'll be there on the 29th! Would love to go to the Kabuki but I have to work.

If I lived closer to Boston, I'd go to the kabuki show since I love kabuki stuff but alas, I do not. I will however be coming up for the Haru Matsuri on April 29th.

I signed up for a booth to sell stuff at and got accepted! So my sister and I will both be there. I will be selling whatever pokemon ears I have left from the con and She will be selling her steam punk jewelry. And we plan on making some sakura themed hair accessories and what not as well. Should be super fun I hope a lot of people come.

I did manage to go; the theater was close to sellout from what I could see. There were four short performances, and I was enchanted; I've never seen such focus and grace in an artist before!

I attended the reception afterward; Bando-san and his troupe were charming and approachable. A few spoke English well enough so I could give my thanks in person, and there was one lady among the attendees who acted as an interpreter for me.

IIRC, one of the organizers said that the first Kabuki performance in Boston was in 2004, and the second last night. I only hope it doesn't take another eight years for the next one...

As for Haru Matsuri, I already have it marked on my calendar, weather permitting.

Awesome. Sounds like it was a good time and quite the experience. Glad you could enjoy it.

I just had a thought for all us AB folks going to Haru Matsuri: those that can may wish to wear an AB shirt or some other AB or anime-related trinket so we can identify each other!

I wouldn't go so far as cosplay, but that's just me...

To what you mentioned about the shirts, Master of NERV:

I also considered that, but I think I want to wear my Japan reliefe red cross shirt. I'd go kimono clad if I had the full ensamble (and also if my yukata were appropriate for the time of year), but wearing anime related things feels sort of off to me.

Something about it... Maybe because AB is our -anime- celebration, and this is just to celebrate Japan in general. I don't like lumping the two so much because this is more of a traditional thing and I truly love the culture beyond anime as well, and I feel like treating this like another anime celebration is cheapening their cluture? Anime obsessions like we (as in AB attendees) have them are really not that common there, either; it's more of a sub culture. I think too often Japan gets a bad rap because people who don't know better think of anime immediately upon mentioning Japan (and when they think of that they think hentai) and tend to forget about their beautiful, rich culture besides. So part of me wants to try and alleviate that by not outwardly screaming 'ANIME!'.

I'm not making a lot of sense, because I don't know how to express what I mean. Man I hate that! Hahaha.

Nah, it makes perfect sense, Duckie. It's a matter of people (in general, as well as anime fans) recognizing that Japan, and its culture, is more than the sum of its anime.

I can see why he'd want to do that though. He just suggested it as a way to identify people from AB. He did also say or piece of anime. For example, I'd wear a normal shirt but I have a Roy Mustang messenger bag I go pretty much everywhere with. That is an anime accessory that's not too intrusive. My bag also has the Japan relief ribbon I got last year at AB. My bag is an expression of myself but I don't let JUST anime represent what I love about Japan either and just because you're wearing an anime shirt to something like this doesn't mean you don't enjoy other aspects of Japan's culture. I for one, enjoy learning about their traditions, I love their food, traditional music, heck I wanted to go to the kabuki but I don't live close enough to Boston to have made it.
Will you possibly be looked at oddly if your wearing an anime shirt? Yea sure I suppose so but isn't what's important here celebrating all aspects of Japan's culture and their spring celebration? Who really cares if you wear an anime t-shirt or not? Besides, maybe we can break the bad stereotype image by showing how much we love the culture ne?

I interpreted Duckie's point as being more in regards to showing up in full costume. I don't think anyone would even notice, let alone give a funny look to a messenger bag, a shirt, a pin, or a lanyard.

I just voiced my opinion on anime shirts but yes I agree with you, Syagria.

What I was saying is that it's fine to love anime and be proud of it, but I'm picturing 30 people all together wearing AB shirts to this festival. Think about that from an outside perspective looking in.... People are likely to take it the wrong way. Get what I mean?

Obviously that also applies to cosplay.

Perhaps this is the grumpy old grandma in me that is reflecting on the large populous of people at AB who think that Japan is like 24/7 anime central and don't give a flying squirrel about the rest of the culture. Anime is just a reflection of the culture, which could also open up the dub vs sub -localization- argument. But that is neither here nor there. (and I don't want to start that flame war in this thread)

For those people, it's geat. I'm glad they like anime, I just don't want to see them embarass themselves or the event as a whole trying to make it in to Anime Boston part 2.

And I'm in no way suggesting that anyone has said that's what they want to do, I just wanted to share my view on it in case anyone wasn't thiking of it.

To everyone who's replied to my notion--quite thoughtfully, I might add--my thanks and appreciation. When I put out my original post, I confess I hadn't thought the matter through. Allow me to reconsider.

Secret Duckie is quite correct in reminding all of us of the real meaning of the festival, and I concur that too bold a fan presence may not be in keeping. Truth be told, I feel a bit chagrined; I'm not in habit of being this careless or insesitive.

No big deal, I assumed you had no intentions of that taking place nor did you mean to make it into a big deal, but I felt I'd share my own opinion for the people not thinking about it, or for those who may take the festival for granted and not appreciate it's true meaning.

That being said, I'd be more than happy to meet up with other AB attendees and hang out! Just in a less flashy fashion! Hahaha <3 (:

So does that mean i cant wear my summer wars cosplay to this?

I personally wouldn't cosplay because I wouldn't want people to look at me/take it the wrong way but that's just me and I'm not going to tell you what to do. I wouldn't recommend it, no but I'm not going to flat out tell you not to. If you want to show your love for anime, there are other less obvious ways like t-shirts or pins.

I really don't typically approve of randomly cosplaying to random Japan-centric events. I personally find it to be disrespectful. The last thing we want is for people to think that the only aspect of their culture we can appreciate are their cartoons. No offense to anyone who disagrees, this is merely my opinion/belief.

Edit: Then again, I'm the kind of person who gets a bit embarrassed if I happen to be wearing an anime shirt if I stop in my local Japanese grocery mart. ^^;

I also agree with you, Chrissii!

After all the discussion, I will not be able to attend this year. I so desperately wanted to, but a week after AB ended I found out I was being laid off from my job, so I just can't spare the expense for another Boston trip.

I hope you guys take a ton of photos and post them, though! (:

I am going to try and get to Haru Matsuri, it really sounds fantastic!!

The Art In Bloom at the MFA sounds wonderful, too.

i'm still going to the culture festival on sunday! if anyone sees me, feel free to say hi. i will have a REALLY big red senshi bow in the back of my hair and cosplayed nakano azusa from k-on this year at AB. ^_^

Anime Boston will be at the Haru Matsuri this Sunday, April 29th from 11am to 4pm! We will be there celebrating, as well as taking pre-registrations for 2013! We will also have coloring pages for the young ones (or young at heart!). Stop by on your way to visit one of the 80 other booths featuring authentic Japanese food and activites.

Registration will be $45 for adults, $35 for children (age 6-12); cash or check only please!

sounds fun wish i could go mmm maybe if it not raning

I will def say hi if you wander past my booth! I will be behind the pokemon ears! Wearing something festive.

Just found out I don't have to work on Sunday (I didn't want to actually take the day off but I guess they don't need me) so I'll be coming! I'll wear a nice lolita dress ^_^

yay, please do! :] <33 i'll be going past all the booths and pretty much hanging out all day so i guarantee we'll cross paths! which booth are you going to be at?



woohoo! i saw on boston_lolitas that lolis are going to be a bit all over. i have been into lolita for a while but going to the panels at AB really convinced me i wanted to try it. i don't have any lolita clothes yet though so i'll just be admiring from afar.

ALSO --

i noticed that the red line MBTA is closed between broadway and kendall for maintenance.... can this technically be routed around by taking the boat in and taking the blue line to the green line to get to copley?