Japanese event to feature martial arts demonstrations, Asian crafts, Taiko drumming performance, film festival

Japanese culture will be in the spotlight during an upcoming weekend-long event that will feature a number of activities to introduce the community to the traditions and customs of the East Asian nation.

On. Oct. 23-24, Sackville residents are invited to join in the celebrations as organizers get set to host a two-day Japanese event that will include martial arts demonstrations, dance performances, a film festival, a Taiko drumming concert, along with an interactive melange of Asian games and crafts.

"I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce Japanese culture to people here," said Yoshiko Hosokawa, a Sackville resident and one of the organizers of the upcoming event.

Hosokawa, who also served as coordinator of this summer's week-long Japanese language village camp at Mount Allison, said a number of Japanese residents, students, as well as those involved in Japanese activities such as Anime club, the karate society and the Ninjya society have pitched in to help organize the film festival and the Japan Day.

The weekend will kick off on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 23 with the film festival at the Vogue Cinema. Starting at 4 p.m., movies to be shown include Women in Mirror and The Stars Converge.

Hosokawa said the film festival is being hosted by the Japanese Consulate General in Montreal.

"This event has been going for a while now. They choose three cities east of Montreal. Last year, Montreal, Halifax and Fredericton were chosen and this year, Sackville was chosen along with Montreal and Halifax."

Saturday's events will get under way at Tweedie Hall in the university's student centre at 3 p.m. with a variety of exhibitions, as well as information and activity booths related to traditional Japanese crafts (such as origami), games, activities (calligraphy, tea ceremony), costumes and more.

At 4 p.m., prepare to be treated to a variety of cultural performances, including Japanese martial arts demonstrations, a traditional fisherman's dance, Anime dance and more.

"The students have been practicing a lot for the event and we would hope to see many people there to share our culture," said Hosokawa.

That same evening, Taiko drumming group Arashidaiko from Montreal, celebrating its 25th year in 2009, will put on a one-of-a-kind performance at Convocation Hall starting at 7 p.m.

The Japan Day and Taiko drumming concert are supported with help from the Japanese Consulate General in conjunction with Mount Allison University.

Hosokawa said the Consulate picked Sackville for these events because the town is recognized as having "a strong Japanese connection" - with an abundance of MASSIE students, Japanese international students, faculty members at Mount A who teach Japanese studies on campus, as well as summer Japanese language programs.

The events also tie in with Mount Allison designating 2009-10 as the Year of International Engagement on campus.

Everyone is welcome to attend any of the events, which have no admission charge.