On Thursday, December 2nd at the Westin Hotel in Denver, the Consulate General of Japan at Denver hosted the 2010 National Day Reception that commemorates the Emperor of Japan’s birthday.

We were fortunate to have pleasant weather on the day of the event.  The guests in attendance included diplomats from several other countries, government officials from our jurisdiction states, media related persons and those active in Japan – U.S. education, culture and sports programs.  Approximately 270 guests turned out for the event, topping last year’s turnout.

Following an opening speech from Consul-General Kazuaki Kubo, Thomas Binet, attending on behalf of Governor Ritter, and Jan Brennan, attending on behalf of Mayor Hickenlooper, each presented a proclamation from their respective state official.

The event came to a close after the guests mingled amongst each other engaging in pleasant conversation and making new connections.

On July 3rd, a wagashi (Japanese confectionary) lecture demonstration and tea ceremony were held at the Consul-General’s Official Residence.  There were approximately 60 guests in attendance, including university officials, restaurant chefs, and those active in the fields of fine arts and tea ceremony.

This wagashi lecture demonstration also marked the 50th anniversary for the sister city relationship between Takayama and Denver.  Mr. Sentaro Tanaka, who was part the visiting delegation from Takayama, is the third generation owner of the confectionary shop “Tohoen,” which has proudly been in business for 104 years.  Mr. Tanaka gave the wagashi lecture demonstration in which he covered such topics as the history of Japanese confectionary and its place in Japanese culture, and the differences between western style and Japanese style confectionary.  Afterward, he demonstrated the process of creating nerikiri, a type of wagashi.

Following the wagashi lecture demonstration, Ms. Kyoko Kita, who is the head teacher of the Omotesenke style of tea ceremony in the Denver area, along with other members of her group, performed this style of tea ceremony for the audience.  They tasted the wagashi which Mr. Tanaka prepared for this ceremony.

For those in Denver who are so familiar with sushi when it comes to Japanese cuisine and who were so unfamiliar with the traditional Japanese wagashi, this event provided a great opportunity to be introduced to an otherwise unknown aspect of Japanese culture. 

Hopefully, everyone left the lecture demonstration and tea ceremony with a greater understanding of Japanese culture.

Laredo Middle School, located in Aurora, Colorado, hosted a Kendo demonstration on May 17th for all 6th graders.

The demonstration was conducted by 8 members of the Ito Dojo (Kendo school), located in Denver, and by 3 Kendo masters visiting from Japan.

The demonstration included, along with a narration, various forms of Japanese sword techniques such as Nihon Kendo kata (basic 2-person forms), iaido (drawing one’s sword), kenbu (artistic sword dances) and keiko (sparring).   

The 400 students were drawn in by the uniqueness of Kendo, and they had the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the traditional Japanese martial art.

On Saturday April 10th, the 2010 Japan Cup, organized by the Japan America Society of Colorado (JASC), took place at Colorado Heights University in Denver, Colorado.

The Japan Cup is a contest in which regional high school and college students, who are learning Japanese, form teams and compete against one another in a trivia game show setting.  The questions quiz the students’ knowledge of Japanese language and culture in such fields as kanji (Chinese characters), idiomatic compounds, idiomatic phrases, grammar, reading comprehension and cultural situations.

This year 32 teams were participating and over 100 people were in attendance.  The preliminary rounds took place in the morning and in the afternoon the 12 remaining high school (levels 2, 3 & 4) and college teams went head-to-head in a final round.  When the contest finished, Consul-General Kubo presented the winning team and the finalists with certificates and souvenirs for their efforts.

For more details, please visit JASC website.

www.jascolorado.org/events.php

On Friday March 19th, Professor Tetsuji Atsuji from Kyoto University came to give a lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Asian Studies Center about the use of kanji (Chinese characters) in modern day Japan.

The theme of his lecture focused on how kanji was viewed in post-WW2 Japan and how the use of kanji will change from here on out.  In it he mentions that in post-WW2 Japan there were restrictions placed on the use of standardized kanji.  People were also strongly discouraged against using kanji as much as possible when writing Japanese.  However, with the spread of IT electronics, it became easier to write sentences using kanji and so the importance of kanji was reevaluated. 

Along with his duties as a professor with a PhD in Kanji Studies, Mr. Atsuji has also been actively involved in the NHK TV program called “shiru wo tanoshimu, nihongo naruhodo juku,” a show geared towards learning fun new things about the Japanese language.

The Denver Home Show was held at the National Western Complex from March 19th to the 21st, and as part of the event, the Colorado Sogetsu Flower Arranging Group held their 2010 Annual Flower Show.

The Flower Show displayed the 50 flower arrangements, all of which were created by the talented hands of the Colorado Sogetsu Flower Arranging Group members.  During the event, Kyoko Kita, who started the Colorado branch, along with other members of the group, gave flower arranging demonstrations and lead workshops.  This was a perfect opportunity for many people to appreciate the traditional Japanese art of flower arranging up close, and to have a hands-on experience.

The Colorado Sogetsu Flower Arranging Group was established in 1986 and currently has over 100 members.  Founding member, Kyoko Kita, was presented with a Foreign Minister Award in 2009 for teaching others about Japanese culture for so many years, and for her promotion of Japan-U.S. cultural exchange. 

Of the members in the Colorado group, more than half are Americans of non-Japanese descent.  Many locals learned about flower arranging through the Flower Show at this year’s event.  This high level of interest suggests that flower arranging is gaining popularity not solely because it is a Japanese cultural tradition, but also because people have an interest on a personal level; thus, it has grown within the local community as an art in and of itself.

The 42nd annual Japanese Doll/Culture Festival was held at Simpson United Methodist Church on March 6th and 7th of 2010.

At the festival, there were various displays of Hina dolls, bonsai plants, kimonos, etc as well as demonstration booths for origami, Japanese calligraphy, etc.  In the auditorium, there were martial art performances including aikido, judo, kendo and karate, as well as musical performances with traditional Japanese instruments.  Those in attendance were not only Japanese and Japanese-Americans, but also many Americans of non-Japanese descent as well.  This event has certainly provided the local community with the opportunity to experience Japanese Tradition and Culture first hand.

Photos:

Top left:            President of JAC Calvin Hada & Consul-General Kubo
Top right:          Japanese Koto ensemble performance
2nd row left:       Children performing Japanese nursery rhymes
2nd row right:     Tea Ceremony demonstration
3rd row left:       Japanese flower arrangement (ikebana) display
3rd row right:     Hina doll & kimono display
Bottom left:       People crowding the knickknack shops
Bottom right:    Iai (drawing one’s sword) demonstration