With the 39th Annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in full swing this weekend, Japantown was a bustling sight, as hundreds of visitors, kimono-clad performers and enthusiastic food vendors all gathered to learn and showcase Japanese culture.

The rainy weather didn’t stop the flocks of people attending the festival’s opening day that took place on April 15. The thunderous pounding of traditional Japanese drumming performed by the San Francisco Taiko Dojo echoed throughout the Peace Plaza stage, attracting a large crowd of about 150 people viewing the festival’s opening ceremony.

“It’s exciting to see so many different kinds of people here in Japantown,” said Kazuho Ozawa, 18, an undeclared freshman who was volunteering with SF State’s Japanese Student Association (JSA). “The festival is a good opportunity to let them know about Japanese culture.”

This year’s festival is particularly special because it also celebrates the 100th year anniversary of San Francisco’s Japantown at its Western Addition location, said Genny Hom-Franzen, the festival’s community relations consultant and SF State alumni. The Cherry Blossom festival is one of the many centennial events scheduled monthly throughout 2006 to commemorate the occasion.

The festival includes a street fair, traditional and nontraditional Japanese food vendors, as well as various cultural performances and demonstrations. Some of these showcases include origami (the art of Japanese paper folding), chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), martial arts demonstrations and an Anime costume parade.

“The main reason I come here is for the food,” said Ramon Mislang, 25, a senior international relations major. “I like that you can sample all kinds of Japanese cuisine.”

According to Hom-Franzen there is an estimated 40,000 Japanese-Americans living in California and each year over 150,000 people attend the festival.

The second weekend of the festival will take place on April 22 and 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, the Grand Parade will begin at 1 p.m., which will start at Civic Center, proceed up Polk and down Post street, and will end in Japantown. Japanese classical and folk dancers wearing traditional Japanese attire will perform throughout the parade, amongst the colorful floats and the Taru Mikoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) that will be hoisted by over one hundred participants. The parade’s Grand Marshall, Kitaro, world-renowned composer and multi-instrumentalist will make an appearance in the parade, as well as this year’s Cherry Blossom Queen Emily Yukiko Leach.

With the cherry blossoms in full bloom, many visitors took the opportunity to take pictures of the cherry blossom trees scattered about the Japantown setting. For the Japanese community, the cherry blossom tree represents the start of the spring season. It also holds significance because the cherry blossom tree was the Japanese government’s gift to the United States in 1912 that symbolized friendship between the two countries, said Hom-Franzen.

The first festival took place in 1967, at a time when people were starting to realize their ethnicity and celebrate their cultural heritage. According to Hom-Franzen, it was originally only one weekend long, but due to its success, a second weekend was added so that participants from Japan could attend as well.

As one of the only three remaining Japantowns in California, San Francisco’s Japantown encompasses six square blocks, making it the one of the largest and oldest ones in the country.

The JSA in association with the Nobirukai, a Bay Area referral service for Japanese families who need help adjusting to American life, was one of the many nonprofit community groups that had a food booth set up for fundraising. The JSA and Nobirukai were selling croquette sandwiches, while other booths offered such Japanese dishes as sushi, udon and yakisoba.

“I think it’s great how the festival gets people out of the suburbs and into San Francisco,” said Nobirukai Vice President Hazlyn Fortune. “There’s always great food, music and the parade – it’s really just a great opportunity to showcase Japanese culture.”