News
Students get hands-on experience with Pacific cultures
Stars and Stripes
May 6, 2009
Fourth graders Asanti Wiley and Cheyanne Baldini try their hands at Japanese calligraphy. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Students at the base’s Joan K. Mendel Elementary School got a good look at Pacific culture Monday from about 150 volunteers during the school’s annual Japandasia festival.
From calligraphy to karate, Mendel students moved from classroom to classroom to experience more than 20 different cultural activities. Some were hands-on, as students tried making kappamaki rolls and kokeshi dolls.
"I think it’s really interesting because I really don’t know much about [Asian culture]," said 9-year-old Chloe Byrd, a third-grader.
Alongside traditional Japanese undertakings, such as flower arranging and a tea ceremony, there were also events from other cultures, including Philippine and Hawaiian dancing and lei making.
"It seems like everyone is enjoying seeing the different cultures," said Japanese culture teacher Susumu Sunaga, who added that the event’s name comes from the combination of the words Japan, Asia and panda, the school’s mascot.
"By doing these kinds of activities they are able to learn that people are all friends all over the world," he said.
Fourth graders Asanti Wiley and Cheyanne Baldini try their hands at Japanese calligraphy. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
Tanya Brown, age 10, a fourth-grade student at Joan K. Mendel Elementary, strings a paper flower onto a Hawaiian lei she made during the school's Japandasia cultural festival. Roughly 20 different cultural activities were on display during the celebration. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)
Joan K. Mendel Elementary students watch an ohayashi show at the school’s Japandasia cultural festival. (Bryce S. Dubee / Stars and Stripes)