2008 Woodie Awards
Matsuri (Festival) of Japan
Students Enjoy Large Turnout to Learn about Japanese Culture
Nori Nakagawa
Issue date: 3/4/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On February 18, the Japanese world exploded in Bossard Hall of the Lakeland College campus. There was fun, joy and dancing in the air and on the crowd's face as they were entertained with the second annual Japanese night.
The evening started at 5:30 in Laun 209 with a power point presentation about six different topics of Japan. They included: geography, festival dynamics, the role and tradition of the Samurai, martial arts, technology, and the influences on Hollywood.
Few people know the influence that Japan has had on America and the rest of the world.
You can see it most regular in the movies. Even in the popular "Star Wars" trilogy you can see Luke Skywalker, who in essence is a western or future Samurai, wearing a 'Judougi' and wheeling a light saber which is like the Samurai's 'Katana.' George Lucas himself was inspired by Akira Kurosawa, the director of "Seven Samurai." This movie was also the inspiration of Walt Disney's "A Bug's Life."
From 6:30 pm, the festival started with Japanese traditional background music. People entered by going through the "Torii," the gateway from the physical world to spiritual world in Shintoism. There were five kinds of cultural booths such as the tea ceremony, penmanship, traditional toys, pictures with Kimonos and tattoos. The food booths included Sushi, Stew, Yakisoba, Sukiyaki, and Dumpling. Snacks were arranged as a real Japanese festival style for this slogan, "Matsuri".
In penmanship booths, people waited in long lines for "Shodou" and tattoos. "Shodou" is the traditional art of producing beautiful writing by original brushes, ink, and calligraphy paper. People could choose from the list of 50 words. These joyful artifacts were received with smiles and people took home these treasures to hang on there walls. The most popular words written were love, hope, fighting spirits, and immortal.
Nick Simmons ordered a Japanese famous saying, "Nasake wa hito no tamenarazu" which means that the kindness you give will come back to you, so you should be kind to everybody, and be satisfied with a smile.
People also enjoyed the food. All dishes were traditional Japanese in style and flavor. Before eating, people looked rather nervous, but after that, they asked how they could make these dishes. They also enjoyed using chopsticks while eating noodles and Sushi.
Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time and although the traditions of Japan will change very little, the technology used will rapidly evolve, and so will the Japanese night, so make sure you look up this gala event this time next year.
The evening started at 5:30 in Laun 209 with a power point presentation about six different topics of Japan. They included: geography, festival dynamics, the role and tradition of the Samurai, martial arts, technology, and the influences on Hollywood.
Few people know the influence that Japan has had on America and the rest of the world.
You can see it most regular in the movies. Even in the popular "Star Wars" trilogy you can see Luke Skywalker, who in essence is a western or future Samurai, wearing a 'Judougi' and wheeling a light saber which is like the Samurai's 'Katana.' George Lucas himself was inspired by Akira Kurosawa, the director of "Seven Samurai." This movie was also the inspiration of Walt Disney's "A Bug's Life."
From 6:30 pm, the festival started with Japanese traditional background music. People entered by going through the "Torii," the gateway from the physical world to spiritual world in Shintoism. There were five kinds of cultural booths such as the tea ceremony, penmanship, traditional toys, pictures with Kimonos and tattoos. The food booths included Sushi, Stew, Yakisoba, Sukiyaki, and Dumpling. Snacks were arranged as a real Japanese festival style for this slogan, "Matsuri".
In penmanship booths, people waited in long lines for "Shodou" and tattoos. "Shodou" is the traditional art of producing beautiful writing by original brushes, ink, and calligraphy paper. People could choose from the list of 50 words. These joyful artifacts were received with smiles and people took home these treasures to hang on there walls. The most popular words written were love, hope, fighting spirits, and immortal.
Nick Simmons ordered a Japanese famous saying, "Nasake wa hito no tamenarazu" which means that the kindness you give will come back to you, so you should be kind to everybody, and be satisfied with a smile.
People also enjoyed the food. All dishes were traditional Japanese in style and flavor. Before eating, people looked rather nervous, but after that, they asked how they could make these dishes. They also enjoyed using chopsticks while eating noodles and Sushi.
Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time and although the traditions of Japan will change very little, the technology used will rapidly evolve, and so will the Japanese night, so make sure you look up this gala event this time next year.