 The Japanese Cultural Fair in Santa Cruz was originally the brainchild of local dancer, Tandy Beale, who was instrumental in organizing a multi-day paper folding festival in 1987. During that event, many people came together and shared their interest in the art and appreciation of Japanese culture. After the event, a group got together and organized what has since become known as the Japanese Cultural Fair. The mission of the Japanese Cultural Fair is to provide an opportunity for the community to increase its awareness and understanding of Japanese culture. We believe that through an increased exposure to the culture of Japan, we can improve mutual understanding among neighbors on the Pacific Rim and enrich our community life here in Santa Cruz. Every year, the Japanese Cultural Fair brings together a vast array of examples of traditional Japanese culture that can still be found in this area. At the main stage, in Mission Plaza Park, the Cultural Fair begins with chanting by members of the Zen Center. Thank you very much for watching Motaiko and are you enjoying the weather? It's beautiful! The next piece is called the Hiraita Hiraita. This is a little flower that grows in rice field in Japan and then some of our children are going to play in tea and Nathan, they are going to be playing with us. Okay, Hiraita Hiraita. Two groups specializing in taiko drumming, Watsonville Taiko group performing at the beginning of the fair and San Francisco Taiko Dojo performing at the end. The purpose of this art is to study, learn and preserve the traditional and modern styles of taiko drumming in relation to other aspects of Japanese culture such as folklore, music, dance and history. Some people say that drumming, a Japanese drum is the soul of Japanese people and we use Japanese drumming taiko for many different occasions and to share the sadness, to share the happiness so it is really a way to express ourselves through the sound and power. It's not only the music part of the Japanese drumming but it's much more, I would say, spiritual and also in the martial art aspect of Japanese drumming because it goes through your body and the body creates certain kind of energy and then energy is transferred to other people and that part we call it, we don't really teach but we intermix or transmit, that's the word, transmit our teachings so I like to study how to transmit the power of sound. A short preview of martial arts was presented on the lawn in front of the main stage by Aikido Asada Cruz. Participants demonstrate ukemi, the art of falling and nagewaza throwing techniques. Various graceful prose, pins and defense against weapons are studied. Allowing out respect to each other marks the open and close of classes and demonstrations. The founder of Aikido, his name was Morihei Ueshiba, he's called O Sensei which in Japanese means venerable teacher, it's a term of respect and he is unfortunately no longer alive but he lived until 1969. So Aikido is a fairly modern martial art and so he studied the traditional martial arts of Japan and the traditional spiritual practices of Japan and put them together into Aikido but it was based on harmony, based on not opposing but rather joining and respecting the other person. So it's a kind of paradoxical but a very beautiful art that way and very relevant to our modern world and what we need, not more violence but more peace. Aikido is both a traditional martial art meaning it's come out of the traditions of the Japanese martial arts and it's also something new and innovative. It's a non-competitive martial art, we have a lot of dynamic action but it's non-competitive and very mutually supportive amongst the people who do it. This allows people of all sorts to practice Aikido, they can be young, old, of course women as well as men, the kids can do it and it's a very positive activity in that way. It takes it out of the competitive mind frame which is something that I think that is very important for our society at large is to develop ways of working together rather than working against and all of the martial arts have that aspect and Aikido really emphasizes it, it's the art of harmony. So it's very important that that Aikido you know be preserved and go on into the future. Minodance are Japanese folk songs passed down from generation to generation. Many folk songs in Japan originated from farmers and fishermen as they toiled in the fields or the sea. They recounted their stories and hopes. Other songs tell of religious, historical and seasonal events. They capture Japan's true history, unblemished by war and political upheaval. Storytelling by Megumi. Give me a little a few more days to think about it. She tells Japanese folk tales that she remembers from her childhood in Japan. I lived in Japan from age three to ten so and I attend I always looked around for good role models of how to relate with people, how to solve problems and I found many in stories or they didn't give me answers at least they asked some really interesting questions and so the stories I keep alive on this side of the big ocean you know helps me feel still connected to my childhood memories. The oldest storytellers who have them all memorized and learn them auditorily not through books are fast disappearing. I know one still in her 80s yeah but there are some people who are younger than that they're preserving them. Shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute traditionally made of bamboo and used during the medieval period by monks of the fuke sect of Zen Buddhism. It was used in the practice of komuso the practice of nothingness or emptiness. It was introduced to Japan from China during the sixth century. This type of dancing is called bon odori. Bon is a Buddhist celebration. Odori means dancing in Japanese. The original purpose of the bon odori is to welcome and comfort your ancestors spirit during the bon season. Old tall small young doesn't matter if we can walk we can dance. Kyogen is a form of comedic theater in Japan created more than 600 years ago at a time when the samurai were the most powerful group in Japan. They needed some light entertainment to liven up their evenings hence Kyogen became a favorite of the warriors. Okinawan dance by Otori Kin Senkai. Traditional Okinawan dance was developed over 300 years ago in the royal court. The koto is a 13 string traditional Japanese musical instrument which came from China between the 7th and 8th century. The koto has been used as one of the main chamber instruments of Japanese traditional music. The strings are tuned by sliding movable bridges back and forth. The tsugaru shamisen is a traditional Japanese three string banjo like instrument introduced to Japan in the 16th century. The body of the instrument is covered with cat skin and played by plucking with a triangular ivory plectrum. Entertainment at the main stage is concluded with a rousing energetic enthusiastic performance by the San Francisco taiko dojo. The dojo is actually a school focusing on the spiritual and martial arts aspects of the art of taiko drumming. The dojo not only teaches the skillful playing of percussion instruments but also the discipline of mind and body and complete respect and unity among the drummers. Coupled with an outstanding presentation of traditional Japanese culture on the main stage are 45 to 50 vendor booths in the rest of the park. They are offered to round out the attendees experience of the culture. They include art, jewelry, ceramics, koi, dry goods, produce, cuisine, koi nobodi which are the fish banners, musical instruments. Included also is a special area for young people where they can experience hands-on a number of crafts such as sumie, ink drawings, face painting, origami, paper folding, shakuhachi bamboo flute making, kamishibai, a colored paper picture show illustrating tales, fantasies and adventure stories, food preparation and speaking and writing Japanese. Bonsai is the art of dwarfing trees or plants to mimic realistic miniature landscape scenes. A bonsai may suggest many things but in all cases it must look natural and never show the intervention of human hands. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is an art imbued with the spiritual significance influenced by Buddhism. The kimono is a very traditional Japanese attire for all ages of males and females. Today a kimono is only worn on very special occasions such as weddings and other ceremonial occasions. The tea ceremony has a philosophical and spiritual connotation with an emphasis on self-realization rather than aesthetic entertainment. What we just did here was a Mizuno-Dana style tea ceremony which is a tea ceremony done sitting at a table. The original concept of a tea ceremony at a table was developed in the 1800s by Gengensai. Tea ceremony includes and encompasses every aspect of Japanese tradition and lifestyle and that's why it is so important to the Japanese people and it is a tradition that they keep alive and pass from generation to generation. The Obon Sejiki ceremony includes meditation and food offerings to spirits and ancestors. It is performed in the Zen tradition to comfort the ancestral spirits. The following were demonstrations of Japanese martial arts at the Aikido Santa Cruz Dojo on Mission Street. Sword and staff movements are practiced in martial art using padded weapons to study the movements and interactions of bow, staff and sword. Strict observance of tradition and careful application of techniques are passed down in formal training. Kudo archery involves the formal meditative elements of moving in measured steps, arranging one's gi, drawing a six-foot asymmetrical bow and releasing with the proper technique. The Japanese bow has not changed since the 1600s. Any improvement in performance is in the archer, not in the equipment. Karate means empty of violence rather than empty hand. Karate begins and ends with respect. The demonstration of karate includes both children and adults in many beautiful kata and paired exercises. Hiaido is the art of drawing the sword. Hiaido kata combines drawing the sword followed by several cuts, chiburi, and returning the sword to the scabbard. Hiaido, like Aikido and Judo, are all paths. The do means the dow, and so our study is about self-realization and self-mastery. You can't use a Japanese sword until you master yourself. We believe that the Japanese Cultural Fair captures some of the essence of traditional Japanese culture in all of its colorful, spirited performances and pageantry. The Japanese Cultural Fair is important for the simple reason that it seeks to preserve the traditional assets of the Japanese culture for the benefit of the community and for future generations. Ethnic Japanese in this country have the challenge of trying to maintain their very rich cultural heritage while dealing with the challenges of living and leading in a modern country in the 21st century. As a result, unfortunately, many of the more traditional art forms and crafts are on the verge of fading out. They include Minyo Folk Singing and Dancing, Nihon Buyo Dancing, Poetry, Ceramics, Paper Making, Woodworking, Flower Arrangement, Calligraphy, Weaving, Cloth Dying, Tea Ceremony, Mochitsuki Rice Ponding, Shami Sen, Shaku Hachi Flute, Bonseki Stone Art, Rakugo Comedy, Sword Making, Bamboo Art, and Japanese Classical Garden. This is just a small list of unique cultural riches that Japanese society has had for hundreds of years but are finding difficulty in attracting young people to maintain them. Well I think in these days Japanese society is certainly moving on as all societies are to be much more modern and pop art and anime and manga very popular amongst the even art culture now too. The arts in Japan have even seen a decline whether they are the arts are Shami Sen which is Japanese three string guitar or Japanese dance even tea ceremony and flower arrangement you're not seeing as many younger generations that are involved in doing these arts. What we get to experience here in our festival is all of those arts together in one place and in one day you'll get to see such a wide variety of these arts and by introducing it to the people of Santa Cruz what it does is it helps to foster interest and especially in the younger generation. I can tell you there was a young boy that I met a couple of years ago never been exposed to Japanese society or culture or anything before he was so moved by what he experienced here he told his dad dad I want to start studying Japanese in only a couple of years later I ran into the boy again he's studying Japanese he loves the culture he's studying martial arts he's very active in the Japanese community here and and it's just because of events like this and coming together and experiencing various aspects of the community that can touch people in ways that we'll never often find out about. Classes in these arts are almost always filled with older people who are attracted to these art forms later in life. Due to their refined nature these arts often take decades to master and the younger generations often lack the patience and dedication required. It is an interesting observation that it is often the younger foreign born non-Japanese living in Japan and elsewhere who seem to be keenly interested in preserving many of these cultural traditions even more so than their ethnically Japanese counterparts anthropologists historians and others have observed in general that the many traditions of a culture seem to be frozen or preserved in time by the men and women who have immigrated to the United States whereas their mother country may have moved on people who have immigrated tend to cling on to old customs and traditions more familiar to them. In a sense many of their perceptions of their homeland have become locked in time. The challenge has always been with succeeding generations and with the children who may have been embarrassed by their parents' accents and customs. They have a tendency to shy away from their roots while embracing the American culture into which they were born. The third and fourth generations are less connected to their Japanese roots for many of them other than their Asian faces and Japanese surnames that's where their connection to Japan ends. They have little desire or interest in sustaining the culture of the grandparents. The Japanese cultural fair has not been spared the phenomenon of a culture on the wane. Two examples of this include the Minyo dance group Akebonokai and Kagami Kai group performing the traditional mochitsuki rice pounding. Akebonokai was a senior women's group from San Mateo. They had been dancing traditional Japanese folk dance for over 20 years. The uniqueness of the group were the ages of the members of the group and their backgrounds said to be mostly war brides who were still active while into their 80s and 90s. The group performed for the cultural fair for many years. They were a crowd pleaser and very much appreciated and respected for their traditional dance and impressive very authentic Japanese dance attire. With the death of their sensei plus the passing of some of their members the group suddenly disbanded never to perform again without the group a part of their cultural tradition passes into history. In the past the Kagami Kai group has demonstrated the making of mochi. Mochi is a rice cake made from sweet glutinous rice with a sticky consistency. It is traditionally eaten on New Year's days since it is regarded as a gift of good omen. It is also given as a special treat at occasions such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. The mochitsuki is the activity of pounding at sweet rice into cakes and patties. For many centuries in Japan a mochitsuki was an integral part of the celebration which honored a special guest or great festival. The Kagami Kai group did not perform at the cultural fair this year. The group sensei recently remarked that the membership in the group has declined. Younger people tend to be less interested and don't stick with it. In addition to these two examples we fear that other art forms such as koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, ikebana, tea ceremony, sumo, haiku and other art forms are all experiencing the same decline in interest. However some of these arts for example shamisen and taiko are trying to reinvent themselves in order to appeal to a younger generation. The Japanese cultural fair has had a wonderful run of 26 years. The 27th cultural fair is scheduled for June 8th 2013. With dwindling resources and the advancing ages of the organizers the continuation of the fair is in question.