Fewer vendors lined up this year at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Camp Zama, Japan, on March 28, 2026. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP ZAMA, Japan — The annual Cherry Blossom Festival returned this weekend at the headquarters of U.S. Army Japan under tighter restrictions, offering a scaled-down version of the popular spring event that typically draws thousands of visitors from surrounding communities.
Unlike previous years, the festival Saturday was limited to people with base access, a shift that significantly reduced attendance and vendor participation.
Other U.S. military installations across Japan have canceled their spring festivals altogether, including U.S. Navy bases at Atsugi, Yokosuka and Sasebo, citing stricter security measures imposed earlier this month by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Other installations, Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo and Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, for example, are going forward with their spring open base events.
Many vendors at these spring events rely on the influx of local visitors for the bulk of their annual festival sales.
“Since it is a closed base event, it is definitely affecting our sales,” said Yuko Portillo, a cashier at the Camp Zama Community Club who has participated in the festival since 2016. “The lines are usually nonstop compared to how it is right now, which is no line.”
Portillo said she did not yet have exact figures but estimated that revenue could fall to about a quarter of what vendors typically earn during the event. The booths typically offer a variety of food and drinks, souvenirs and games.
Historically, the Sakura Festival has drawn between 12,000 and 15,000 off-base visitors, according to the base Morale, Welfare and Recreation office.
An audience gathers for Japanese dancers at the Cherry Blossom Festival at Camp Zama, Japan, March 28, 2026. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese drummers perform at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Camp Zama, Japan, on March 28, 2026. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)
This year, attendance was limited to service members, Department of Defense civilians and their families, and Japanese employees. Festivalgoers with base access could escort up to six guests onto the base.
This year, only six vendor booths lined the street lined with blossoming cherry trees, compared to the usual 40 to 50 vendors, said Randy Benton, the installation’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation special events coordinator.
Despite the smaller footprint, attendance exceeded expectations.
“Honestly, I’m surprised with the turnout today, we didn’t know what to expect since at least 70% of our participants come from the off-base community,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Heck, a pilot assigned to Alpha Company, U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan. “It’s a good thing when the Japanese community come on base, we get to interact and build a bond with them.”
Event organizers said the decision to move forward with the event was driven in part by a desire to maintain a sense of normalcy and community engagement, even as other installations canceled similar celebrations.
Benton said the reduced scale made coordination more manageable.
“Once Zama leadership decided to continue forward with the festival, it was actually easier to coordinate with the logistics since the scale is smaller,” he said. “Plus, we got lucky this year that the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.”
Benton estimated the cost at about $50,000 — a figure that can “easily double or triple” for larger events held throughout the year.
“Even though the event is scaled down, it’s still important for our Camp Zama community to be able to enjoy this event,” he said.
