Toons on the March: The Cherry Blossom Parade
April 17, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The Cherry Blossom Parade features a bevy of beauties, from the Cherry Blossom Festival queen and princesses to girls in kimonos — and even Sailor Moon.
The 10th annual Anime Costume Parade will take place on April 20 during the 2008 Cherry Blossom Festival, and the newly popular anime characters Naruto and Bleach are expected to dominate the costume parade, while familiar characters like Sailor Moon will dominate the stage as musical performers.
The Cherry Blossom Festival has been a tradition in the San Francisco Japanese community for 41 years. But in the late ’90s, the number of people interested in the festival began to decrease. Tak Onishi, who has owned the Japan Video and Media store in Japantown since 1984, decided to organize an anime parade to boost people’s interest on the festival, since anime such as Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon were starting to become popular at the time.
“I use the anime as a media to introduce Japanese culture, because anime describes how the people in Japan are living,” Onishi said. “You can learn the history, manner and language of Japan by watching anime.”
Interest in anime has only grown during the past decade. Onishi said when the anime parade was first introduced, there were more individual participants; today many participants come as a group. The parade now attracts participants from across the Bay Area. “The emotional elements are well developed: You become attached to characters and root for them,” said Gilles Poitras, one of the contest’s judges.
Since the number of participants has skyrocketed, Onishi decided to offer two levels of participation three years ago. The first 100 people who register for the parade can also compete in a costume contest for a prize of the latest anime merchandise (registration forms are available at the Japan Video and Media store in Japantown).
Three judges will score contestants based on authenticity and details, overall impression and mobility, or the contestants’ ability to mimic characters using body language. The only requirement is that all costumes be homemade; a violation will result in point deduction. “Off the rack clothing that is close to a character’s outfit does not get as much attention as something innovatively done with low budget items, assembled in a way that shows thought went into the work,” said Poitras, who has judged the contest for the past seven years.
The contest will take place at Civic Center at 10 a.m. and ends around noon when the Cherry Blossom Parade starts. The parade begins at Civic Center and ends on Fillmore Street at 3 p.m. After the parade, costume contest winners will be awarded at one of the stages in the Japantown Peace Plaza.
The Sailor Moon musical that was a huge success last year will have its encore performance on the Japantown Peace Plaza stage. Organized and presented by AnimeMyu, it will feature most of the Sailor Moon characters singing, dancing and performing skits.
“[I expect] lots of people having fun and some stunning entries that will take our breath away,” Poitras said.
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This was a great event; I’ve always liked Japanese culture. I can send AsianWeek pix if they want. :)