The sold out National Cherry Blossom Opening Ceremony took place on Friday, March 21 at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall at 1776 D St in Washington, D.C.
The Ceremony is “an artistic celebration of the gift of the cherry blossom trees from Tokyo in 1912” as stated on the National Cherry Blossom website. It also commemorates the friendship between the two countries.
There were three main performances of the evening, with opening act Futago Onikenbai. This group performed jumps, somersaults, and sword art. The second group was Takehiro Ueyama and Take Dance. The stage was quite dark with spotlights on the performers. Sometimes there were one, maybe two on stage at once with one stationary and the other, or a group moving slowly and dramatically towards the one in place. They were all wearing bright white and their movements were always fluid, telling a story.
The main performer was Ayaka Hirahara and it was her first time in the United States. She visited other states prior to this night. Hirahara-san performed 4-5 songs, beginning with Jupiter. Her second song was The Name of Life or Inochi no Namae, from the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away. She then performed a song cowritten with her sister and brother in law. In between each song, she would tell different stories about her life and her family.
This was the second major Cherry Blossom event, following the Pink Tie Party. There is also the Kite Festival, Petalpalooza, Parade, Bloomfest, and Sakura Matsuri.
