Cherry blossoms (known as Sakura in Japan) are the national flower of Japan. In Japanese culture, they embody the fragile beauty of life and represent a time of renewal and optimism. These trees bloom for a very short period of time so pops of pink from the Sakura flower mark the ending of winter and signify the beginning of spring.

Every year, Cherry Blossom Festivals take place all over Japan. The act of celebrating the festival is called 'hanami', which literally translates to 'the viewing of flowers', with the traditions of the festival itself dating back over a thousand years.

People gather under blooming Sakura for food, drink, songs and companionship. Sakura Festival dates vary by location and year, as the trees bloom at different times with weather and climate variations, but they are typically in late March through May and last a few days to a few weeks.

Sanda City (located ~40km northwest of Osaka in the Hyogo Prefecture) was one of the Sakura Festival sites in 2022. The event was put on by the Sanda City Tourism Association. Morita Group (a partner of FoxFury’s partners) was one of the major sponsors. The 3 day event was held April 1-3, 2022. 

The Sanda Sakura Festival had a wide number of activities running day and night including a music stage, food trucks, artisan booths / displays, presentation, competitions and campfires.

Morita Group manufactures fire trucks and has a factory nearby in Sanda City. They brought fire extinguishers and their Red Ladybug (a small off-road fire engine) on display as seen in the picture below. The Red Ladybug is shown below surrounded by FoxFury Nomad Scene Lights.

Morita brought additional FoxFury Nomad scene lights to light up other areas of the Festival grounds. Most importantly, the Morita team positioned some of the Nomad lights so the beautiful Sakura flowers could be seen at night. That meant getting creative with light placement so that the Sakura trees could be seen in prominent places like behind the stage (see image below).

The illumination of the Sakura trees served as the steady backdrop of all night events. The Morita team positioned one of the FoxFury Nomad Transformer lights to illuminate the Sakura in the image below.

Events with different activities that span multiple days require moving and charging lights. The Morita team worked hard to set up lights according to where they were needed most.

Their cordless design enabled them to be moved faster, eliminated cords and reduced trip hazards. There was the threat of rain, which shifted some of the activities…as well as when and where the lights were set up.

The event was a success and there were some stunning images along with memories made that will last a lifetime.

Huge thanks to Morita Group for sharing these pictures and this Festival with us. The event has a terrific Photo Gallery. Photo Credits for images used are to Toshihiro Terai and Ryosuke Kikuchi

Fun Facts!

• There are over 200 different varieties of cherry blossom trees in Japan. Flowers range from white to pink.
• Macon, Georgia in the US is the Sakura Capital of the world. They have over 350,000 blooming Yoshino cherry trees that can be seen in all their glory every March. Link:
• Lifespan of the Blooms Is Only About a Week
• March 27th is known as “Sakura No Hi” (Cherry Blossom Day), which was established back in 1992 by the Cherry Blossom Association in Japan.

Credits:

• https://newscast.jp/news/5228433?fbclid=IwAR2B1SRHeFew7m1l3UPEmY8edfJQuRV7RAb87UZHMqv-r_62IUhGz2l7euE
• https://cherryblossom.com/
• https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/japan-cherry-blossom-festival-guide/
• https://www.samovartea.com/hanami-the-cherry-blossom-festival-welcomes-spring/
• https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001033/
• https://inbound.sanda-kankou.jp/en/top-en/