Students who ventured into the EMU Ballroom Sunday night found themselves submerged in another culture at Japan Night, hosted by the Japanese Student Organization.
Complete with authentic food, live music, dancing, martial arts performances and a kimono fashion show, Japan Night 2008 proved to be successful in expressing the complexity of the Japanese way of life.
The theme of this year’s event was “The Time Flow.” It followed the story of two cartoon characters come to life as they venture back through time to learn about the history and heritage of Japanese culture. They learn of Japan’s shift from an aristocracy to a democracy, of the unique way the country carries out its celebrations and the influence the past has on modern Japanese society.
Tomoaki Hirose, president of the Japanese Student Organization, was pleased with the positive feedback the group got from the audience.
“They made a lot of noise throughout (the performance), and overall I think we did pretty good,” he said.
Although the weather prevented a musician who was scheduled to give a drum performance from being able to come, Hirose was proud of what the event organizers accomplished. “We’ve been preparing for about three months, and I hope that people learned something about Japan.”
The kimono fashion show drew attention to the beauty of the intricate clothing patterns and designs of traditional Japanese apparel. The audience learned that it is traditional for young unmarried women to wear long-sleeved kimonos, while married women wear shorter-sleeved kimonos.
With 12 parts, the kimono is much more difficult ensemble to put on than one would think. The fashion show also exposed a modern kimono, which can be cut short, breaking away from the traditional look and becoming more of a fashion statement.
“My favorite part was the kimonos,” said student Shoko Kajimoto. “They were all so pretty.”
University student John Faciane recently returned from studying abroad in Japan.
“I thought they did a really good job of showing how Japan is, obviously there’s much more, but it was a good introduction,” he said. “Hopefully it sparks some interest and maybe even inspires someone to go there.”
Faciane was especially interested in the explanation of Japanese festivals, or matsuris.
“When I was there, I didn’t get to experience any,” Faciane said. “I learned that they are nothing like ours, since they don’t have specific dates and each town kind of does their own thing.”
Matsuris usually celebrate rice harvests and are always sponsored by a shrine or temple.
Before the presentations began, attendees were served traditional Japanese cuisine to set the tone for the night. The meal included kara-age, Japanese fried chicken; sanshoku-gohan (“three-colored rice”), a dish made with beef, egg and green beans; Japanese-style meatballs, silver noodle salad and green tea pound cake. These meals were served in bento boxes, a type of lunch box used by Japanese students.
Layla Witmer, a volunteer for JSO, explained how the meal added to the atmosphere.
“A lot of foods, like Chinese food, gets Americanized, but this food was made by Japanese students, so it’s closer to authentic Japanese cuisine,” she said.
The highlight of the evening was a demonstration of tate, a Japanese sword fighting technique. University student known only as Yokko choreographed the performance and explained that it is about much more than violence and fighting.
“Tate incorporates physical, spiritual and technical aspects to make harmony with your partner,” said Yokko. “They (the JSO group) had no experience with the technique or acting, so it was hard to teach them to show that to the audience.”
Tate is more easily recognized for its use in “Star Wars,” where the traditional wooden sticks are replaced with futuristic light sabers.
The crowd was also entertained by a dance performed by female members of the JSO, who danced to modern day Japanese music known as J-Pop. J-Pop combines traditional Japanese instruments, such as the koto, with modern day sounds of techno.
Also included in this night of Japanese fun was a haunted house that drew much of its scares from the original version of the film “The Ring.”