The Hitachi Furyumono is a parade held during thecherryblossomfestival each April in Hitachi City on the Pacific coast in the middle of Japan, and once every seven years in May during the Great Festival at the local Kamine Shrine.
In the US, the National CherryBlossomFestival kicked off last week in Washington DC with a fundraising walk and vigil for the victims ofthe Japanese earthquake and tsunami.