FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2007 

SPRING BRINGS SHOWCASE OF JAPANESE INFLUENCES TO NATION'S CAPITAL

A true international capital, DC's global influences show up in the city's culture, cuisine and diverse communities. Japan falls into focus in 2008, as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts stages a major Japanese cultural showcase, the Sackler Gallery of Art mounts an exhibition of Edo period works and the National Cherry Blossom Festival returns to mark the arrival of spring.

Robots and anime, film and fashion blend with traditional visual and performing arts during the Kennedy Center's Japan! culture + hyperculture. Running Feb. 5-17, the festival is an unprecedented celebration of classical, contemporary and cutting-edge culture, featuring more than 40 performances by more than 450 artists, including 15 premieres. Look for a new musical by Amon Miyamoto, who won rave reviews for his Broadway production of Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures," featuring music by composer Henry Krieger ("Dreamgirls"). There's also an extravaganza of anime and "Robotopia Rising," a series of exhibitions and lectures about robots.

DC's annual celebration of spring's arrival, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, marks the 96th anniversary of the gift of the trees from the city of Tokyo to the city of Washington. The 2008 festival takes place March 29-April 13, with the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Sakura Matsuri Japanese street festival slated for Sat., April 12.

To set the stage for next year's focus on Japanese art and culture, the Sackler Gallery of Art examines the Edo Period in its next major exhibition. On display Nov.10-April 13, Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes: Edo Masters from the Price Collection is a showcase of 109 paintings from the Japanese Edo Period (1615-1868) in screen, hanging scroll and fan formats, taken from the renowned collection of Joe and Etsuko Price. The exhibition comes to the Sackler Gallery after a year-long tour in Japan.

For a taste of Japan's culinary influences on the DC dining scene, head to The Source, Wolfgang Puck's first fine dining restaurant in the nation's capital opening later this month. At the helm is 32-year-old Scott Drewno, a Puck acolyte who worked at Chinois and Spago in Las Vegas before moving to Vong and Ruby Foo's in New York. Or, stop for dessert at Butterfield 9, where the new pastry chef, Manabu Inoue, comes to the nation's capital from Morimoto in Philadelphia.

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About Destination DC: Destination DC, the lead destination marketing organization for the nation’s capital, is a private, non-profit membership organization of more than 1,000 businesses committed to marketing the area as a premier global convention, tourism and special events destination with a special emphasis on the arts, cultural and historic communities. Destinationdc.com.