Ai Kawashima – Voice of the Cherry Blossoms

The circumstances were unkind to purple SKY?s interview with J-pop star Kawashima Ai at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden?s Sakura Matsuri.

Kawashima Ai Voice of the Cherry Blossoms We had to shuffle from location to location as the Cherry Esplanade Stage was shut down, and break when one of the many TV reporters wanted Kawashima to deliver a video message for her fans.
But despite the inconveniences, Kawashima?s kindness and eagerness to help shone through. At one point, the translator had to step aside, and Kawashima and I cobbled together an answer through her decent English and my broken Japanese.
?American people is very lively,? Kawashima said in describing her stateside audience. She felt they showed their energy more than her Japanese ones did.
Kawashima, the 23-year-old with a million-selling hit, three books and a charity project to her name, had always wanted to perform in New York. Her experience living in New York City at the end of 2008 strengthened her interest in singing here.