Yesterday we attended the JCCH (Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii) New Years Festival. My older daughter wanted to go so she could get an extra credit point for her japanese language class. She needed to stay for at least an hour to get her extra credit. Boy, are we glad we went. It was great! We arrived there at about 12:30 and stayed until it closed at 4pm. It was a beautiful day. We wished we had gone earlier because we missed out on a lot of the hands-on crafts. Here are some pics!
There were several craft booths with japanese inspired crafts as well as local crafts.
This was a hula halau that had dancers from ages 4 through 78+! They were great!
The mochi pounding demonstration was awesome! These guys were really entertaining and fast! The cute "grandmas" made mochi samples and they gave them away for free! Yum!!
We got to see this wonderful local children's taiko drum group as well as a group all the way from Okinawa! They were fabulous!
There were many booths with hands-on crafts for the kids. Here's a stamped headband with the "zodiac" on it. This year is the year of the dog.
This Capoiera group was fantastic. Capoiera is a martial arts that is combined with music and dance. Totally cool! The music is cool too!
This long line was to purchase this Okonomiyaki! It is like an egg crepe that is filled with vegetables and mushrooms and this special sauce. People were waiting in line for 30-40 minutes to buy them! I'm sure it was delicious, but we didn't have time to wait for it.
Across the street at the JCCH center there were more activites. The girls got to make their own gyotaku fish prints on rice paper!
They had a station set up for games of "go." These kids looked like they were reallly into it!
There were beautiful bonsai (miniature trees) on display.
Downstairs, they had many japanese wares, clothing, and books for display and for purchase.
Upstairs they had a ballroom full of hands-on crafts and an area were children could dress in traditional kimono and take pictures! I think it is customary for girls ages 3 and 7 and boys age 5 to take pictures in the traditional clothing (but I'm not sure - grin).
These women were part of the tea ceremony activites.
It was a wonderful festival! Next year we will have to go earlier to experience more of the traditional activities that they provided!
Wow, what a fun day you had! So much to see & do, and oh, man, those kimonos!
Posted by: megan | January 16, 2006 at 02:02 PM
i now want one of those fish prints pretty badly. those look so cool.
Posted by: jen | January 14, 2006 at 08:27 AM
Great pictures of the Ohana Festival. I have gone there 3 years in a row now, and love the Zodiac hand towels, and I was really tempted this year to buy the fish. I did get some cute bells of Hello Kitty dressing up as the animals of the zodiac. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Long live Totoro;)
Posted by: Barb | January 13, 2006 at 10:41 PM