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Food, games, dancing at Japanese festival
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Posted on Oct 25 2008
More than a thousand people turned out yesterday to experience a little Japanese culture and cuisine at the 24th annual Japanese Autumn Festival.
The Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas organized the event, held at Sugar King Park.
Twenty-five vendors took part in the event, selling food and toys, and organizing games. A garage sale was also held, said Hiroko Tenorio, a board member of the Japanese Society.
The day began with a Katori Shrine ceremony. Ten people from the Shrine in Japan came to take part in the ceremony, Tenorio said.
The Yasakoi Soran Dance Team from Hokkaido, Japan, once again took part in this year’s festival.
Tenorio said she estimates there was an increase in the number of attendees over last year’s 1,500 because of the beautiful weather.
“I think it’s gone pretty well,” she said.
She said the event is an opportunity for the CNMI’s Japanese community to share their culture with others.
“As Japanese, we wanted to exchange our culture and cuisine to people here,” she said. “It’s also a chance for the Japanese [in the CNMI] to get together. Every year the festival gives us a chance to get together.”
Takashi Nimura, who attends the event annually, said he enjoys gathering with other Japanese community members to share their culture.
“It’s nice to have this once a year for the community to gather in one place,” he said.
There are approximately 1,300 members in the Japanese Society of the Northern Marianas.
