This is our 10th SAJCC sponsored Japanese Festival in Tucson, scheduled for Saturday March 21 at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Rd.
It’s not an annual event since we started up in January 2014 as a Mochitsuki ( New Year’s rice pounding event) at Yume Japanese Gardens and expanded to a Tucson Japanese Festival in 2016 once we moved to PCC Downtown. It has been a successful festival for 9 years, except for the Covid pandemic hiatus in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2024 the SAJCC Council moved the festival to March to make it a spring event, still with mochi pounding. We will now be at the lovely Tucson Chinese Cultural Center for our fifth year.
NEW: Look forward to taiko drumming by Odaiko Sonora (with special guest performers Haruki Saito from Sado Island, Japan and founder/taiko drummer Kay Fukumoto from Maui Taiko) this year. Haruki is an ondeko — Shinto deity mask dancer. Photos below courtesy of Odaiko Sonora.
Also shakuhachi flute & tradtional dance performances, origami paper folding, ikebana flower arrangements, tea ceremonies, Japanese children & adult games and crafts, and of course delicious takoyaki balls and other Asian delights to enjoy. Extended hours like last year, now 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with onsite parking.
Still only $5 adults, free for children 5 and under. Cash preferred, no presale tickets.
Performance schedule below. Updates will be posted on our FB page: facebook.com/southerazjapan/
