The Japanese Cultural Festival

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

On Saturday April 21 and Sunday April 22, the 35th Annual Bunka-Sai Japanese Cultural Festival took place at Ken Miller Recreation Center in Torrance. One of our field study students, Aileen Willoughby, our Resource Specialist at P.V.H.S. participated in dancing, emceeing, food booths and welcoming the visitors who came to enjoy the culture of Japan.
Saturday, I attended with a small group of college friends and we were immediately greeted by Aileen at the door, feeling most welcomed. The demonstrations of Judo, Naginata and Kendo were fascinating and we found ourselves wincing at some of the stunts performed on the main stage. Tacomaki, which was a type of deep fried meatball with octopus pieces, was a delicacy some of us tasted along with iced green tea. Others of us tried the Japanese omelet, with bacon, green onion and cabbage. Both were very good. There was something for everyone. Booths with shaved ice and small game booths for children. One of the buildings had Japanese artwork, bonzai, home made dolls, watercolor painting and small crafts. Another building featured women working with stamps and hand painting stationary alongside different items for sale. The Japanese dango doughnuts were wonderful! For me, the standout events were saved for Sunday. Of note, was the Japanese dance demonstrations. Aileen participated both as a dancer and as an emcee. She was clear and quite eloquent in her description of the upcoming featured dance numbers. My favorite was the final number with the theme of Spring. Attending this event was a way to extend our Asian travel experience and also a way to experience a culture that is geographically close to China but so much different in style. All in all, it a couple of afternoons well spent and a great opportunity for teaching differences in the Asian cultures. There is a section of poetry in Chapter 7 of our Holt Literature book which compares poetry from Vietnam, Korea, Japan and China. Some of the cultural experiences can be referred to while teaching this writing technique to my 9th graders.
Thanks to Aileen for informing us about the event! 😀
-Susan Pavelka Gregg[Edit by="spavelkagregg on May 1, 8:50:36 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your detailed description of the festival. Did you miss our own Butch Ihde working there too? He was doing DANGO. There is a festival coming up in Little Tokyo with some similar things and some differences as well. I believe some parts you have to pay to get into in Little Tokyo and some parts are free. I think it is called the Tofu Festival - or something like that. Did you see the pictures of Torrance's sister city on the wall in the performance hall. It looks like a nice town. 😛

[Anonymous]

Alex,
Although we did try the DANGO which tasted great, I missed Butch...humph!
Thanks for the information on the "TOFU Festival" coming up. I will have to
check it out as well. Currently, my only extension of Japanese culture at the
moment is a healthy diet of protein, sashimi. See you in class today.
Susan

[Anonymous]

This festival sounds like a lot of fun. I bet it would have been really interesting to compare the two cultures - Chinese and Japanese. From what I've learned so far, they are very different. When I look at the written language of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, the characters are all very different as well. The Japanese have totally different customs and foods as well - bowing and suschi are very popular in Japan - but I didn't see bowing or many sushi places in China. It would be interesting to hear about the differences from both a Chinese and Japanese perspective. I would really like to attend the upcoming event you mentioned.
Teresa

[Anonymous]

A couple friends and I attended the 35th Annual Bunka-Sai festival on April 21, 2007, presented by the Torrance Sister City Association. Since the proceeds benefited the Student Cultural Exchange Program, there were many families, children, and teens involved which was nice. They had rooms devoted to showcasing crafts for sale as well as various foods to try and shows to view. They had aikido, bonsai, calligraphy, flower arrangements, batik, dance, judo, kendo, koto, naginata, origami, sumi-e painting, taiko, and a tea ceremony. Sadly, I missed the tea ceremony and would have been interested in seeing how it compared with the tea ceremony we got to see in China!

Apparently Torrance's sister city is Kashiwa and the affiliation began in 1973. Kashiwa's population is 400,000. A maximum of 8 students who are sophomores, juniors, and seniors go on exchange for 3 weeks each year. I'd be interested in hearing some of the students' thoughts who have gone on exchange there. It seems like an excellent opportunity for our youth. I wonder if such a program could be established with Palos Verdes High School and one of the schools we visited in China?

[Anonymous]

On Saturday on April 22nd I attended the 35th annual Bunka Sai Festival. The Bunka-Sai festival was held at the Ken Miller Recreation Center in Torrance from 11am to 5pm. The proceeds from the Bunka Sai Festival benefit the Sister Cities Student Cultural Exchange Program. One our participant’s son, Kevin Willoughby, will be traveling to Japan this summer as part of this program. Even through I was still tired from our trip to China and not on California time I am glad I attended this event, especially as a resident of Torrance.

The program started with a welcome by Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto. The Master of Ceremonies for the day was meteorologist Rick Dickert from FOX 11. Rick Dickert is a South Bay Local (one of my friends went to high school with him at RUHS). After the opening remarks I was able to walk around the various booths that were set up. Booths included food (of course) such as traditional Japanese doughnuts, noodles, shave ice and teriakyi (although a inside source told me the meat was actually Korean BBQ). Several booths were selling handmade items such as origami cards, paintings, and dolls. There were also game booths and crafts for young children.

Starting at 12:30 there were various performances, including Japanese Choral Music, Judo, Naginata (martial arts), Kendo (The Way of the Sword), Shakuhachi (Japanese Flute), and Taiko (Japanese Drums). The two programs I watched were Japanese Choral Music, and Judo. The Japanese Choral group explained that their songs were all about
Spring. The Choral Group was mostly female, only 6 males in the group. The music was beautiful, and at times involved clapping. It would have been nice to have translations of the songs. I also watched the Judo demonstrations. The instructor explained that Judo is a defensive sport not intended for combat fighting. The instructor also explained that Judo is mentally challenging, and that you must learn to fall before you can move on to other parts of Judo training. The students then gave a demonstration, the students were of all ages and all belt levels (white – brown). Torrance residents can take classes in Judo at Wilson Park. The demonstration was interesting, as I knew very little about Judo prior to the presentation.

Overall, this was a good experience. This festival gave me a chance to learn more about the Sister City program, and the culture of Japan. I probably would have enjoyed myself more if I had been on California time, but for me it was the middle of the night in China.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad you were all able to have a Japanese cultural experience at the Bunka sai Festival in Torrance. I've been involved with the Bunka Sai because my dancing group performs there each year. By the way, my son was selected as one of eight 2007 Torrance Sister City Student Ambassadors to Japan. Butch Ihde's daughter Kara was a Student Ambassador last year. My son will leave July 10 and be gone for 3 weeks. Prior to this trip, he and the others spent over 50 hours having various cultural lessons in which they learned about Japanese etiquette, customs, and culture. Any 10th or 11th grade high school student who resides in Torrance can apply. The proceeds from the Bunka Sai help fund their trip as well as the various activities for the Japanese exchange students who will be here in August. The big Japanese festival that you might want to attend will be in August and is called Nisei Week. It is a big deal with parades and floats, dance groups, and various cultural demonstrations and exhibits that go on for about 2 weeks. If you are interested, let me know and I can give you info. If you want me to take you there, I might be able to.
aileen willoughby

[Anonymous]

Wish I would have had the chance to go again this year.
How was it Aileen?

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