Super Kawaii

Can I tell you …about the Sakura Matsuri Festival. Every Spring season the Brooklyn Botanical Garden celebrates the Japanese tradition of Sakura Matsuri(cherry blossom festival). Hundreds of people congregate to join the festivities and see the flowers in full bloom from BBG’s 220 cherry trees. In a week or a week and half, the flowers will all fall.
In Japanese culture, the short lifespan and fragile nature of the cherry blossom makes it even more beautiful and precious. During Sakura Matsuri in Japan, throngs of people leave work early so they can picnic at the parks or whereever they can view these flowers. As early as 1912, cherry trees were planted in the USA as a gift from the People of Japan. In the last 30 years, the festival has become a much anticipated and celebrated tradition.In all my years of living in New York, I have never been to see the cherry blossoms at the gardens. Mom has been going for years and each time she invited me I had some excuse not to go. This year I decided to put an end to that.Visitors inspired by the theme and wore Japanese costumes emulating Geishas, Maikos and Ninjas. Manga obsessed kids were performing their favorite scenes in the gardens. Little girls got dressed as maikos and some teenagers indulged their Lolita fantasies dressing in super girly outfits in pink in homage to the blossoms. They all looked super kawaii!This is the 28th year of the Japanese festival, which features two days of taiko drumming, butoh performances, and samurai-sword demos among the blossoming trees. Other highlights include ikebana, manga, and origami workshops and demonstrations.The BBG itself is spectacular. Built in the late 1800s, it used to be an ash dump and was gradually developed into what it is today; the pride of Brooklyn representing the best in urban gardening and horticultural display. The Garden is made up of many exquisite and historic specialty gardens, including the Japanese-Hill-and-Pond-Garden, the Children's Garden, the Native Flora Garden, the Cranford Rose Garden, the Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden, and the Steinhardt Conservatory. While walking the Japanese garden I had a sudden feeling of Dejavu, like I was in Kyoto for a split second.I'm inspired by everything I see and I'm glad I went. The flowers were just so pretty and pink, especially when the petals start falling like confetti all around you and blanket the ground like a carpet. You can see how the colors of nature make their way into my subconscious and eventually into my collection. Aren't these bags super kawaii!