Every which way you turned, there was someone else you wanted to get your picture taken with, from the big wooly Totoro to people decked out in over-the-top anime costumes. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown was in full bloom this weekend, April 16-17, and everyone in town seemed to be there. The streets were packed with yummy eats, colorful clothing, and of course, lots of stands dedicated to raising money for Japan and their rescue relief efforts.
On Sunday, the morning started with the Grand Parade, which went from Civic Center to the heart of Japantown. For me, there was one main attraction: the anime costume contest. I’ll confess, I don’t know much about anime or what characters the contestant’s threads were representing. But I do know that they were all super-creative and I loved how much attitude everyone on stage had. In my mind, pyramid head, with his jumbo-sized bloody sword and yarn-ball-head sidekick, definitely should have won. They rocked.