JSA's 2nd Annual Spring MATSURI or festival in Japanese, will be Friday, April 6, 2012 in Ida Noyes Hall. With the great success of last year's event, JSA aims again to recreate the festive feeling of Japanese Matsuri with festival games and booths as well as traditional and pop performances from Japanese culture. Tickets are $10, including the dinner, festival and show. Check out the full line up of festivities and performances below!
THE FESTIVITIES | 5:00 - 7:00 PM
- Dinner: Sushi and Japanese traditional foods | 5:30 pm. Catered by Shinju Sushi.
- Kimono Photo Booth: Dress up in traditional Japanese clothing and pose for a purchaseable photo keepsake | More info coming soon.
- Origami Workshop & Janken Game Booth
THE SHOW | 7:00 - 8:30 PM
- The Chicago Koto Group on traditional Japanese string instruments
- The Ho Etsu Taiko Japanese drumming ensemble
- Kendo and Judo Martial Arts demonstrations
- JSA Yosakoi and Shin Dancing Troupes
We hope you'll come celebrate spring with us!
The word "Matsuri" means festival and, as a newly formed RSO on campus, on Saturday, May 7 2011, JSA aimed to recreate the festive feeling of Japanese Matsuri and celebrate its founding and flourishing thus far. Headliners for this event included: internationally recognized Japanese stand-up comedian featured on Last Comedian Standing, Rio Koike, and leading taiko (Japanese drumming) ensemble in the Chicago area, Tsukasa Taiko (aka Legacy Taiko). Other features included traditional Tsugaru-Shamisen music by Joshua Solomon and Soranbushi dance performances by the JSA Yosakoi Dance Troupe. Dinner was served before the show catered by Hyde Park's own Shinju Sushi.
In light of the record high magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan earlier that year, JSA's Relief and Rebuild Committee set up a donation table to especially assist those students left with virtually nothing, but still hoping to pursue an education. $2 Raffle tickets were also sold with a complimentary Limited Edition Meiji chocolate to fund-raise for this cause. Prizes for the raffle included gift certificates for free dinners at nearby Japanese restaurants and Tsubaki spa sets. All profits from this event were donated to the Japan Relief & Rebuild Committee to be used for the Iwate University Scholarship Fund.
We send many thanks to International House at the University of Chicago for hosting our event and to Sakura Kimono-Yukata Market for graciously providing many of the outfits worn by members during the Matsuri event. We highly recommend Sakura Kimono-Yukata Market for their reasonable prices, lovely outfits and fast shipping to any persons interested in purchasing authentic Japanese traditional clothing.
