1/1
Swipe or click to see more
The 61st Cherry Blossom Festival court is Miss Popularity Ashley Higa, left, Princess Misha Maletta, First Princess Lori Higashi, Queen Crystine Ito, Princess Kellene Sasano, Princess Leila Mitsunaga and Miss Congeniality Eryn Kawamoto.
Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
Crystine Ito was crowned 61st Cherry Blossom Queen on March 30 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
Ito is the daughter of Carol Ann and Carlton Ito and a 2007 graduate of Kapaa High School on Kauai. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Hawaii and works as a legislative aide at the state House of Representatives.
The Cherry Blossom Festival’s annual ball and coronation ceremony, sponsored by the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce, marked the culmination of seven months of hard work for the 15 contestants, who participated in cultural and professional development classes that covered Japanese history and business etiquette, bon dance, aikido, taiko, speech and pageant training.
Winners were selected for their dedication to perpetuating Japanese culture, commitment to education and passion for community service.
This year’s pageant featured a taiko performance by the contestants that was choreographed by Kenny Endo and accompanied by members of the Taiko Center of the Pacific. For the "Eastern" phase of the competition, contestants answered an impromptu question while wearing authentic "furisode" kimono flown in from Japan by Watabe Wedding Hawaii. For the "Western" phase, contestants delivered a one-minute speech in evening gowns from Casablanca Bridal and Formals.
Other members of the 61st Cherry Blossom Festival Court are First Princess Lori Higashi and Princesses Kellene Sasano, Misha Maletta and Leila Mitsunaga.
The Miss Popularity honor was awarded to Ashley Higa, and Eryn Kawamoto was named Miss Congeniality.
Mitsunaga received the 2013 Violet Niimi Oishi Scholarship. The 2006 ‘Iolani School and 2010 Willamette University graduate will attend Argosy University in the fall to continue her studies in clinical psychology. The $5,000 award was established in 2002 by Dr. Scott Oishi in memory of his mother, who was the first Cherry Blossom Festival queen and a career educator.