“Waimea should always have this festival and the cherry blossom trees,” said Emma Kiyan, a Hilo resident who, along with friends Iris Nakayama and Pearl Kawahara, attended the festival for the first time Saturday. “It’s a great show that Waimea
WAIMEA’S CHERRY BLOSSOM FEST ATTRACTS THOUSANDS
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
Five cherry saplings stood proud alongside their decades-old counterparts adorned with delicate pink blooms Saturday during the 19th annual Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival.
A gift in honor of the 100th anniversary of Japan giving several thousand ornamental Japanese cherry trees to the U.S. to encourage goodwill and friendship, the saplings were planted Saturday with the hope of fostering that relationship for decades to come, said Yoshihiko Kamo, the consul general of Japan in Honolulu.
“Waimea is one of the real special places to symbolize the friendship between Hawaii, the U.S. and Japan,” said Kamo. “This (planting) is our starting point to send our goodwill for the next 100 years to come.”
Using seeds presented from the Embassy of Japan that are suited to Hawaii’s climate, seedlings were cultivated last fall for the festival. The planting kicked off a nationwide centennial project aimed at strengthening and deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance, Kamo said.
“This is such a beautiful way to foster a continuing relationship and share our aloha spirit,” said Hilo resident Rebecca Llaguno, who came for the planting and festival with Lorna Ganigan and Jan Hasegawa.
Thousands of people from around the Big Island, state, nation and world packed Waimea on Saturday to enjoy the cherry blossoms in Church Row Park. Celebrating the first bloom following winter dates to eighth-century Japan when aristocrats would enjoy the blossoms while writing poetry.
The trees bloom annually in late January and early February following a good winter’s chill and ample rainfall. This year’s bloom came in late January, however, the trees still bore a good number of flowers Saturday.
While the trees were not in full bloom, Mountain View resident Regina Cardines was happy to finally attend the festival. Though she’s lived on the island for the past 20 years, Cardines has never attended the festival because her husband was always deployed overseas.
“This is my early Valentine’s Day present from him,” she said while photographing the blooms. “I love cherry blossoms. They are my favorite flower because they remind me so much of my grandma who always loved the flowers and would talk about them. When I look at the flowers, it reminds me of her.”
Waimea’s first cherry trees arrived in 1953 as a memorial to Fred Makino, who founded Japanese language newspaper Hawaii Hochi in 1912. Three ornamental cherry trees were distributed, one of which was propagated, and 20 of its saplings were later donated to the Waimea Lions Club to be planted along Church Row Park in 1972.
In 1975, the organization planted 50 more trees in commemoration of the first Japanese immigrants to settle the Waimea area a century earlier.
The festival, first held in 1994, was created after area residents realized if a bypass were constructed and visitors and locals were routed around the town, Waimea could fall off the map. Since 1994, the event has grown so large it now stretches west across town from the Waimea Homestead Farmers Market to the Parker Ranch Historic Homes.
“Waimea should always have this festival and the cherry blossom trees,” said Emma Kiyan, a Hilo resident who, along with friends Iris Nakayama and Pearl Kawahara, attended the festival for the first time Saturday. “It’s a great show that Waimea needs (in order) to keep this little town around.”
