The annual Cherry Blossom Parade assembles in the Civic Center Plaza before marching up Polk Street and hanging a left on its way to the Japantown complex.
When I first started documenting the parade back in 2001 for the FotoTales project, I was probably the only digital photographer out there...
...but this year the photographers almost outnumbered the participants...
...as they cartwheeled in front of City Hall.
One thing that hasn't changed is the traditional photo op with politicians and festival beauty queens...
...that also included the disastrously ineffective Chiefs of San Francisco's Police and Fire Departments...
...Heather Fong and Joanne Hayes-White respectively.
Winning the best ethnic wardrobe of a politician award would be Supervisor Ammiano who put on a robe before getting into his yellow convertible for the parade.
You (I) don't have to know a whole lot about Japanese culture to appreciate their long tradition of public male near-nudity.
ReplyDeleteVery nice, Michael.