Nashville Cherry Blossom Fest highlights connection between Nashville and Japan

If you’ve ever admired the blossoming cherry trees on Riverside Drive or the Metro Courthouse, you have unwittingly benefitted from the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival. An estimated 60,000 people flocked to downtown Nashville this weekend for the event. 

 The Cherry Blossom Festival began this past Saturday with a thunder of Taiko drums. “We begin with this song is about a mighty dragon, laying in the sky, making big circles,” a Taiko drum leader announced from the stage of the Metro Courthouse steps. 

Nashville’s connection to Japan goes back to the 1970’s, when President Jimmy Carter encouraged Governor Lamar Alexander to go to Japan and encourage Japanese businesses like Nissan to build facilities in Tennessee.

“Japan is far and away our most important international partner in the state,” said Sammie Arnold. He is director of the festival and executive director of Japan-America Society of Tennessee. Japan has invested $21 billion dollars in Tennessee, more than any other country in the world. From the stage, Japanese Consul-General Shinji Wantanabe said,  “The connection between Japan and Tennessee and Nashville is very strong.” 

The Cherry Blossom Festival is a celebration of Japanese culture. There was ikebana flower arranging, a tea ceremony demonstration, and lots of Nashvillians in cosplay, dressing as their favorite anime characters. “Young people are really drawn to Japanese culture right now. There is a particularly high concentration of young people who pilgrimage to this event every year,” Arnold said.

Noni Ameal, dressed in a yellow wig, a poofy anime dress and lots of decorative sparkles was posing for photos with other cosplay dressers. She said, “It’s always fun when people like older ladies and little kids and they’re like, ‘Hey, can we get a photo with you? You look really cool.’ It feels really nice. Japanese culture. It’s so many things coming together as one. And I think it’s just a good way for people to connect with other people.”

The fest started in the late 2000s, when the Japanese consulate moved here and gifted 100 cherry blossom trees to the city. On this sunny Saturday, there were lines for Japanese food like onigiri and bubble tea, but the longest line in the whole festival was for free cherry blossom trees. The Nashville Tree Foundation gave away 750 saplings. Celeste Wilson pointed to the trees next to the courthouse. “Those were the first trees that were planted in front of Metro Courthouse. So you can see how large they’ve gotten since 2008.”    

The event was free to the public and benefited from perfect weather this year. Arnold said, “There’s so many people who want to be outside with their kids doing something anyway on a nice day. So this is a nice chance for them to come down. And while they’re here, while they are outside on this beautiful day, can get exposed to Japanese culture which is a culture that has meant a great deal to our state.”  

Japan also loves American culture, which was also on display. Toki Toyokazu, one of Japan’s premiere Elvis impersonators flew in from Japan. He brough everyone together in a rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

The relationship between Nashville and Japan will continue to grow this year. Japan’s national men’s soccer team chose to make Nashville it’s basecamp for their upcoming games in the FIFA World Cup.

Japanese Elvis tribute artist Toki Toyokazu sings “Burning Love”