Another fun koi show event coming up on November 13 & 14 at the Kino Veteran’s Memorial Park, 2805 E. Ajo Way. Lots of koi (Japanese carp) to view, plus tai chi, martial arts & Samurai sword demonstrations, Japanese traditional music on koto & shakuhachi by Muso (duo of Hiroko Coates & Paul Amiel), and dance & taiko drumming by Suzuyuki-kai. There’s even a koi coloring contest for the kids.

See the flyers & program schedule below. FREE admission, 9 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 9 to 3 p.m. on Sunday. This is their 31st annual show sponsored by the Southern Arizona Koi Association (SAKA).

For more info: www.sakoia.org, 520-747-7278. I wrote about a previous koi parade of ponds tour in the Spring (click here).

Taste of Asia flyer

Come to the Inaugural Taste of Asia (a taste of food, music, cultural performances & exhibits) all at one site, the beautiful Tucson Chinese Cultural Center (1288 W. River Rd.) on two days, Friday April 30 and Saturday, May 1st.

This cultural event runs 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, 11 to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is $3 (children under 12 free). Food and beverage tickets will be sold separately.

Food vendors will be offering delicacies from the countries of Thailand, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan, and China, and there will also be Filipino and Japanese food for sale at the Marketplace. The performers will be diverse as well: Tucson Chinese Association Lion Dance Team, martial arts dojos, tai chi, Leiola Hula Halau, Fine Stream Gamelan, Arirang Korean Dancers, Odaiko Sonora, Tucson Sino Choir, and many more.

I am especially looking forward to hearing a Japanese traditional musical duo “Muso” on Saturday at high noon, performing shakuhachi flute (by Paul Amiel) and koto (by master teacher Hiroko Coates).

Being Japanese American from Hawaii, I will be looking for my cultural foods and music, but also expanding my knowledge about all the other Asian/Pacific Islander cultures as well. This is similar to smaller Asian/Pacific Islander heritage events which have been held in Tucson, but this is the first annual Taste of Asia.

For further info, call 520-292-6900 or log onto www.tucsontasteofasia.com or www.tucsonchinese.org. The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center is on the north side of River Rd., just east of La Canada.

Everyone is welcome to taste a Taste of Asia 2010.

contest poster

Coming up on Saturday April 24, 12 to 5 p.m. at PCC Northwest Campus (7600 N. Shannon Rd.), the 8th Annual Japanese Speech Contest for students enrolled in a Japanese language class. Besides the speech competition, this free event features Japanese cultural exhibitions, taiko performances, prizes, refreshments. The public is invited to participate, to learn more about Japanese language and culture.

Any student may enter as long as that student is currently enrolled in a Japanese class in Tucson. He or she can be taking Japanese in a public or private school, and the school can be elementary, secondary, high school, college, university.

According to Yosei Sugawara, Lead Instructor at PCC Languages Dept. & Chair of the event: “The speeches are written by the students on whatever topic they’d like. Again, we’ve had a wide range. There are personal reminiscences, political essays, jokes, songs … once, even a small puppet show. We don’t screen for content although the committee sees both the Japanese and English versions before the actual event. We provide the English version of each student’s speech to the audience so that friends, families and members of the general public know what’s being said.”

Sponsored by the Southern Arizona Assn. for Japanese Education (SAAJE), this event started in April, 2003 and has grown over the years, to include demonstrations of kendo, judo, karate, aikido, ninjutsu, and iaido by Tucson’s martial arts schools.

The exhibitions will again include Japanese swords, origami by the Tucson Origami Club, ikebana flower arranging, calligraphy, anime, and Urasenke Chado (Japanese tea ceremony) demonstrations, as well as participation by the Southern Arizona Koi Association, and the Tucson Go Club. My brothers and I used to play go with my maternal grandmother. Go is a Japanese board game of strategy played with black and white circular stones (playing pieces).

Tucson based Odaiko Sonora will be performing taiko drumming again for their 8th year.

Judges for the contest in the past have been provided by IBM Japan, the University of Arizona, PCC, The Rotary Club, and Japan-America Society of Tucson, with prizes from local businesses and other sponsors such as the Japanese Consulate General in Los Angeles. This year’s judges are Tom Johnston (Sahuarita Police Dept./FBI & Homeland Security), Fukumi Zapp (Japanese Association of Tucson), Takahiro Masumura (Canon U.S.A.), Hiroko Coates (MUSO/Hiro International).

“SAAJE, a non profit association, was founded to promote Japanese language and culture education in Southern Arizona. Its membership includes professionals and nonprofessionals involved in the Japanese language, in traditional Japanese arts and crafts, and in historical and contemporary Japanese culture.” (from their website)

Being 3rd generation Japanese American, this event sounds attractive to me to re-connect with my culture, though I don’t speak Japanese. I grew up playing go and hanafuda (Japanese flower cards) in Hawaii, and also doing some ikebana, owning koi fish, and drinking green tea. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend in the past, but am looking forward to it this year.

This cultural event is open to all of you interested in “All Things Japanese”, especially the beautiful sounding language.

4/25 article on update of contest winners: http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2010/04/25/winners-of-the-8th-annual-japanese-speech-contest/