Migration
Hundreds turn out for Japan Day at Misawa
Stars and Stripes
April 6, 2009
A young Japanese girl performs a traditional dance during the 22nd Annual Japan Day event Saturday at Edgren High School on Misawa Air Base. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
A young Japanese girl performs a traditional dance during the 22nd Annual Japan Day event Saturday at Edgren High School on Misawa Air Base. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Volunteer Eiko Takada helps 6-year-old Liam Sater finish a Japanese calligraphy project during the Japan Day event. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
A member of the Japan Kite Association helps Sloane Youtsey, 7, make her own kite. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Col. Dave Stilwell, center, commander of the 35th Fighter Wing, his wife Jan, right, and Tetsuo Takasugi, of the Japan Kite Association, look up at one of Takasugi’s handmade kites, billowing 200 meters in the air. Takasugi was one of the many Japanese volunteers who were on hand for the 22nd Annual Japan Day event. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
A young Japanese girl performs a traditional dance. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Hundreds of base residents got a firsthand look, feel and even taste of Japan on Saturday during a yearly festival here.
Warm weather greeted the 22nd Annual Japan Day event, hosted by the Misawa International Club at the base’s Edgren High School.
The smell of grilled yakitori and fried yakisoba wafted through the air, as the sounds of taiko drums competed with children’s laughter.
Japanese volunteers put on several musical and dramatic performances throughout the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. event.
And the halls of the school were packed, as people moved through nearly 30 classrooms featuring such hands-on events as calligraphy, meditation, kite making and a tea ceremony.