This weekend marks the first week of celebrations for the 2018 Cherry Blossom Festival.
It turns out that San Francisco's Japantown was one of the largest Japanese settlement outside of Japan by the time of WW2. Also known as "Nihonmachi", this neighborhood SF is one of only three officially recognized Japantowns left in the USA. In their heyday, there used to be somewhere around 43 of these settlements throughout the country but the aftermath of WW2 left communities dwindling.
But on a might brighter note, Japantown San Francisco is thriving. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival attracts people from all over the Bay Area. Music & theatre performances, street markets & food make it a killer way to spend the day. These pics were taken of the local Taiko Dojo (Japanese Drum School) cranking out some incredible shows.
