Nearly 400 people filled the EMU Ballroom on Saturday evening in celebration of the Japanese Student Organization’s annual Japan Night.
The night highlighted the attitude of cooperation and working together, and events were tied together under the theme of “Maturi,” or “the Japanese festivals.”
JSO Co-President and senior Osamu “Gori” Kawasaki and members of JSO tried to use the theme in each event.
“We take pride in the idea of joining hands with colleagues to create something extraordinary,” Kawasaki said. “While we work together to achieve one big thing, and when we actually made it, that’s really, really brilliant.”
JSO members welcomed the audience dressed in the Japanese yukata, a traditional piece of Japanese clothing.
The night also included an interactive space, featuring six mini-game booths. Stage events were unveiled with a fully collaborated opening ceremony — the mikoshi performance — as JSO members carried a portable shrine up and down and paraded around the audience chanting “Washoi (Heave ho)! Washoi!”
Performances included a koto concert, eisa dancing and a folk dance that originated from Japan’s Okinawa culture.
“Japan is not only about the culture of anime, samurai or that sort of thing,” sophomore Robyn McLeod said.
A Japanese meal, called a bento dinner, was also served at the event. It included rice, curry chicken, yakitori — a type of barbecued chicken — pork yaki udon noodle and oshiruko desert — a hot, sweet soup made with red beans and rice cake.
Chun Yuan Yang, an international student from Taiwan, said she enjoyed the Japanese desert and the teamwork of the Japanese group.
“For Japan, they seem to have a lot more of group work,” Yang said. “Their cultural things seem to be really strong, and everyone is trying to get involved. In Taiwan, young people don’t become involved that much.”
JSO Co-President Yasushi Koda said it is important that people who aren’t familiar with the Japanese culture learn about it and get some idea of who Japanese people really are.
“We’re glad that we can demonstrate a true representation of our everyday lives here in the United States,” he said. “It’ll be awesome that people recognize differences but still form mutual respect and friendship.”
Kawasaki said he has hopes for friendship and diversity through JSO.
“UO can become a real happening place,” Gori said. “With diversity on campus, say, people from more than 50 countries get together here, UO lets us form that sort of friendship and grow us a whole lot.”