On Saturday, February 24, I attended the Japan Winter Festival at the University of Oklahoma’s Zarrow Hall.
As a Japanese-American, I was especially excited to see what was familiar, as well as what new things I could learn about my own culture. Additionally, I attended the festival with a friend who was not Japanese, and so I was able to experience the parts of the culture I was familiar with through their own eyes.
We began the festival by watching an ikebana demonstration, followed by an Iado and Kendo demonstration. As I love collecting ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) inspired paintings in my daily life, I was very excited to see a professional carry out the art live. My friend was also taking sword and fighting choreography classes at the time, and so was fascinated by the actual fighting styles taking place in front of us. After that, we attended the flea market and looked at the silent auction, popped into the calligraphy room, and then looked at the bonsai tree arrangements. I had always wanted a bonsai tree for my own life, and so learning about their care felt like an important step forward for that goal.
Finally, we were able to get into the “Way of Tea” class, which taught about traditional tea preparation and hosting. We watched a demonstration, complete with common Japanese introductions and vocabulary, and then were paired up with others to practice. I was less good at whisking the matcha together than I would have liked, but the warm, bitter tea was wonderful nevertheless.
I was excited to attend the Japan Winter Festival this year because it tasted like a bit of home mixed with a bit of adventure; there were familiarities as well as new things to learn, and sharing them with a partner made the entire experience sweeter. I will be back next year, with an eager heart and a belly hungry for onigiri.
