 In 1998, JASGP began a citywide beautification program planting ornamental cherry blossom trees in Fairmount Park and along the banks of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River.This program became the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia in 2003 following a title sponsorship from Subaru of America.In 2016, JASGP merged with Friends of the Japanese House and Garden, a private nonprofit which operated Shofuso Japanese House and Garden beginning in 1982.