Located at Nishi Park, one of the designated 100 best places to watch the Sakura bloom! Expect a jam-packed festival filled with seasonal ceremonies, Japanese cultural experiences, food stalls, and much more!

Located in Fukuoka’s Chuo Ward, Nishi Park is known for its spectacular springtime Sakura blooms and for Terumo Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the famed general Josui Kuroda and his son Nagamasa, 

As one of the designated top 100 places in Japan to watch the Sakura bloom, not only the park itself but the large road connecting it to Ohori Park is lined with cherry blossoms as well. The area the park is located in was even featured in the old Japanese poem anthology, the Manyoshu, where it was the known place that emissaries to China first set off from. It is in this scenic and storied area that the Nishi Park Sakura Festival will take place. 

On March 20th the religious ceremony known as “Yamabiraki” or the opening of the mountain will take place on Mt. Aratsu in the park. All along the shrine torii gates, inside Terumo shrine, the Korokan building in Maizuru Park, and in Tachikaeri Tenmangu Shrine there will be a wide variety of Japanese cultural activities, mochi-making, live painting, open air food stalls, flower artistry, a procession of court ladies, sushi making activities and much more)! 

So come down and enjoy what the festival has to offer!
 

Nishi Park Sakura Festival: March 20, 2024 (Wednesday, national holiday) - April 7, 2024 (Sunday)

Wednesday, March 20 (National Holiday)
9:30 a.m.: Yamabiraki at Terumo Shrine
10:00 a.m.: Mochitsuki (rice cake pounding) in the precincts of Terumo Shrine *to be cancelled in case of rain
1:00 p.m.: Performance by the Japanese drum club of Nippon Keizai University *to be cancelled in case of rain

Saturday, March 30
11:00 - 16:00: Sakura Tea Ceremony, Fukuoka City Federation of Tea Ceremony Culture, Enshu School (*Reservations required; available at the door for 1,300 yen; *Korokan in case of rain)
1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m.: Hakata Doll Painting Nakamura Doll (*Reservations required; available at the door for a fee: 2,500 yen *to be cancelled in case of rain)

Sunday, March 31
11:00 - 16:00: Sakura Tea Ceremony, Fukuoka City Federation of Tea Ceremony Culture, Enshu School (*Reservations required, available at the door: 1,300 yen, *In case of rain, the event will be cancelled at Maizuru-kan)
1:00 p.m. start: Princess Procession Maizuru Park - Ohori Park - Nishi Park *to be cancelled in case of rain

Monday, April 1~Tuesday, April 2 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m.
11:00, 13:00: Sushi craftsman experience at Sushi Gyoten (for upper elementary school and junior high school students, *Reservations required: 550 yen (tax included) *All proceeds go to Terumo Shrine)

Wednesday, April 3
Hakata Katsuben Paradise featuring Katsuben-shi, Silent Film Narrator Nanako Yamauchi
11:00, 13:00, 15:00 (3 parts with changeover): Katsuben (silent film narration) film screening (2 x 15 min. films), followed by a 30 min. katsuben workshop

Friday April 5~ Saturday April 6
11:00, 13:00: Pottery making experience at Ajiraku Kiln, Takatori Pottery, the official kiln of the Kuroda Domain (*Reservations required, but available on the day for 3,850 yen).

Sunday, April 7
11:00 a.m.: Kuroda clan tradition Yagyu Shinkage Ryu performance *to be cancelled in case 15:30 p.m.: Japanese cultural arts troupe led by wadaiko expressionist Shinsuke Ikewaki 
4:00 p.m.: Shinto Musoryu Jojutsu (martial cane staff art) *to be cancelled in case of rain

Wednesday, March 20 (national holiday) - Sunday, April 7
Exhibition of floral art objects by sakurako

Wednesday, March 27 - Tuesday, April 2
Projection Mapping

Profile of Performers
Nanako Yamauchi, a "katsubenshi" (silent movie narrator)
Born in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, Nanako Yamauchi made her debut as a benshi, or silent movie narrator, at the 659th Silent Film Appreciation Society in 2013, performed at the Nasu Hot Springs Film Festival in 2017, and will perform at the 32nd Tokyo Student Film Festival and the Gender Gap Film Festival in 2021, both organized by university students. She also worked as a supervisor for "RAY - Reishii - Taisho Kinema Monogatari" serialized in Manga Mee from April 2021 to February 2022.

Kenji Gyoten, Sushi Gyoten
Kenji Gyoten is the third generation son of a sushi chef, graduated from Abenotsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka in 2004, and trained in Tokyo's famous Edomae Sushi restaurants. He was recognized by the Michelin Guide as being the youngest in the world in the sushi category, and his restaurant was awarded 3 stars by the illustrious publication.

In June 2019, he served sushi at the G20 Fukuoka welcome reception; in July 2019, he was awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide Fukuoka/Saga/Nagasaki edition; in February 2020, he partnered with the Fukuoka City Fishermen's Cooperative Association and Fukuoka City to provide consulting services for oyster farming to contribute to the development of the fishery industry. In March 2011, he was appointed as a consultant to the Fukuoka City Fishermen's Cooperative Association.