Children under 12 admitted free at Yume Japanese Gardens, 2130 N. Alvernon way on May 5, 2013, Children’s Day in Japanese culture.

There will be gold fish netting, origami paper folding, traditional Japanese toys, yukata (light kimono like clothing), plus taiko drumming by Odaiko Sonora. New Hours for May at the gardens is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Traditionally May 5 was Boys’ Day, with Girls’ Day being on March 3. Note the calendar sequences of numbers, 5-5 for boys, 3-3 for girls, which is how we remembered it growing up in Hawaii, where May 5 is still considered Boys’ Day. Families fly wind sock koi over their homes on bamboo poles to indicate how many boys they have in the family. So my biological family always flew two carp koinobori for my two brothers.

Celebrate Children’s Day, and honor the boys in your family as well.

Good things do come in small packages: Yume Japanese Gardens hosts the annual Spring Show of the Tucson Bonsai Society!
Join us Saturday and Sunday to view dozens of artfully trained miniature trees and shrubs, to see pruning demonstrations, and to receive helpful tips on plant selection and care from dedicated Bonsai enthusiasts. Learn about choosing containers and display pots, grafting and root reduction, which species are easiest to train, and the history of this 1,000-year-old Japanese tradtion.

More info: www.tucsonbonsaisociety.com, or
www.tucsonjapanesegardens.org.

The Tucson Bonsai Society states that they are Southern Arizona’s oldest bonsai society, founded in 1972.

bonsai on display at Yume Japanese gardens at grand opening in January, 2013, courtesy of Carolyn Classen

From Tucson Bonsai Society webpage:

Our club meets each month on the third Sunday with a planned program, followed by a raffle and open workshop, instructed by our certified mentors. These meetings are open free to the public, at our new location: Catalina United Methodist Church, Building H, Room 230

I grew up appreciating bonsai, as my parents were bonsai lovers in Hawaii, and attended shows and even owned a few of these trees and worked at maintaining/pruning them in their lovely ceramic pots. My father used to show me with pride his small collection whenever I visited them over the years. And I still attend these bonsai shows & exhibits whenever I can.

Drop by the Yume Japanese gardens for some tranquility, and view these lovely potted trees on display. Demonstrations on bonsai care will also be given throughout the weekend.

For more information on Japanese culture in Southern Arizona, go to our website, www.southernazjapan.org.

Now in its 11th year, the Southern Arizona Association for Japanese Education (SAAJE) is hosting this language contest & exhibition about Japanese culture. The half day event is at PCC West this year.

Program

Exhibitions: 12:00 – 4:00

Opening Ceremony / Speech Presentations (Category A): 12:30 – 1:00

15 Minute Break

Japanese Traditional Dance by Suzuyuki-Kai: 1:15 – 1:35

Audience Contest / Speech Presentations (Category B): 1:40 – 2:10

15 Minute Break

Aikido Demonstration by Sonoran Aikikai: 2:25 – 2:45

Audience Contest / Speech Presentations (Category C, Group 1): 2:50 – 3:15

10 Minute Break

Audience Contest / Speech Presentations (Category C, Group 2): 3:30 – 3:50

Taiko Performance by Odaiko Sonora: 4:00 – 4:30

Awards Ceremony: 4:35 – 5:00

Our Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition will have a table there, with information about us and our new website, www.southernazjapan.org. And I will be teaching hanafuda, a popular Japanese card game in Hawaii and South Korea (but not in Japan). There are also usually tables/exhibits on kyudo, origami, temari, go, koi ponds, Japanese food, calligraphy — and other “all things Japanese”. There will also be information about the newly opened Yume Japanese Gardens at 2130 N. Alvernon Way.

Origami flower on boulder, photo courtesy of M. Craig

Yesterday I watched instructor M. Craig (half Japanese Nisei) teach and fold origami (Japanese paper folding) in a children’s workshop, and also took photos below of her lovely origami creations scattered throughout the newly opened Yume Japanese Gardens in Tucson.

An origami workshop for adults is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. at the Yume Japanese Gardens. The workshop costs $10 and does not include admission to the gardens.

M. Craig teaching two children and a parent to fold origami butterflies

Ursula Hein admiring her origami butterfly

L – R: Origami teacher M. Craig, students Madeline Riccitello, Ursula Hein

Here’s a sampling of some of the beauty of what you will see at this origami exhibit, ongoing till April 14. Yume Japanese Gardens is open daily, 9:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 2130 N. Alvernon Way (just south of Tucson Botanical Gardens). There are many more beautiful & colorful origami creations throughout the gardens to view.

origami butterfly

origami plant boxes

origami turtles

origami fish near koi pond

origami turtle next to koi pond

origami star on display shelf

origami white rose

origami hummingbird on wisteria vine

Fore more information about Japanese culture/events in Tucson, please go to Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition www.southernazjapan.org. My previous post announcing this first-time 2 week origami exhibit (click here).

Tucson Japanese Culture & Origami Meetup Group founder M. Craig will be teaching origami (Japanese paper folding) to children & parents on March 30, 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the newly opened Yume Japanese Gardens, 2130 N. Alvernon Way. An adults-only workshop will be held the next day March 31 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the same location.

These workshops are a kickoff for a two week exhibition of over-size paper creations and sculptures at the Gardens from March 30 to April 14. Regular admission prices to Yume Japanese Gardens will apply during the outdoor show, but the exhibition will be free to view. This origami exhibition will feature life-size and larger paper cranes, koi, roses, butterflies, and other paper sculptures placed throughout the gardens.

rose origami creation by M Craig

To enroll in the workshops which cost $10/adult, $5/children, call M. Craig at 520-331-0602. The workshop fee does not include admission to the gardens. For information about the exhibition, contact Yume Japanese Gardens at 520-445-2957, www.tucsonjapanesegardens.org.

More information about Japanese culture/events is available at our Southern AZ Japanese Cultural Coalition website www.southernazjapan.org (including Calendar of upcoming events).

I love hearing taiko drumming probably because of my Japanese ethnicity, but so do a lot of people all over the world who aren’t Japanese. Venture downtown on 2nd Saturday Downtown on March 9, to hear this lively Tucson taiko group Odaiko Sonora (who celebrated their tenth year anniversary in 2012). They will be performing at 5 p.m. (to 5:45 p.m.) at the Scott Avenue Stage (between Congress and Broadway).

Odaiko Sonora is Tucson’s taiko, or Japanese ensemble drumming group. Serving southern AZ since May 2002, Odaiko Sonora is dedicated to increasing familiarity with and understanding of taiko in our community. We do this for over 30,000 people each year through classes and master workshops, performances, school residencies, teambuilding workshops and by producing concerts by internationally acclaimed taiko artists.

Lots more info here: www.tucsontaiko.org.

They will also be at Tucson Festival of Books on March 10, 1 p.m. at the UA Mall, in the Education Bldg. room 310:

Rome, Karen and Shiro (aka Bugsy) will participate in “Bringing the Arts, Literacy and Technology Together for Kids,” a session for educators and parents. We will be announcing the release of a new book featuring our plucky hero Asako and her devoted, magical dog.

I wrote about their first book “Asako, The Girl who Saved Her Village” last year (click here). They are working on a new book entitled “Asako, the Girl who Woke the Sun”, and it reportedly references the Uzume/origin of taiko myth, and is a story about Yokai spirits and magic. The plot is that young Asako journeys with her dog Shiro to find sacred drum beats that will coax the sun back.

Asako who woke the sun, illustrated by Nadia Hagen, preview image courtesy of Odaiko Sonora

For more events on 2nd Saturday Downtown on March 9, go to their event schedule (click here).

For more events at Tucson Festival of Books (March 9 and 10) go to their website (click here).

The Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition (SAJCC) is established to unify the greater Japanese community in Tucson and Southern Arizona. The SAJCC shall be an organization for Japanese American families and individuals, Japanese Nationals and their families, people and organizations promoting the Japanese language, arts, and cultural activities, and anyone interested in Japanese culture. The SAJCC is meant to be inclusive.

As part of the SAJCC, we have launched a website, www.southernazjapan.org, highlighting the January 2013 grand opening of the Yume Japanese Gardens at 2130 N. Alvernon Way, where our group has been meeting. We hope to be able to sponsor events at that beautiful garden created by Executive director/founder Patricia Deridder, who lived in Japan for 15 years.

The website has a directory of Japanese cultural and educational groups as a resource, a calendar of ongoing activities and flyers of upcoming events, information about Japanese culture in Southern Arizona, such as the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site on the road up to Mt. Lemmon.

I’ve posted a few of my previous articles from the www.Tucsoncitizen.com/community on this website, as I’ve been covering Japanese cultural issues for over three years now, such as the annual speech contest in April, dance & taiko performances, the monthly origami club meetings, koi association tour events. I also teach hanafuda (flower card game) at the Tucson Japanese Culture & Origami Meetup group on the 1st Saturday of the month (or when I able to attend).

Upcoming: Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) concert at the Yume Japanese Gardens on March 8, and the 11th Annual Japanese Speech Contest on April 20 at Pima Community College West campus. The latter will have booths/exhibitions from the various aspects of Japanese culture: go board game, origami, koi, temari balls, food, martial arts, kyudo (archery), calligraphy, ikebana, taiko drumming, etc. I look forward to eating arare snack crackers every year at this speech contest, and listening to the talented young people speak Japanese.

Please check out our SAJCC website and please let us know of any events or topics of interest to the Japanese community, such as movies, art shows, cultural events.

Yes, a beautiful and peaceful Japanese garden has been created in Tucson at 2130 N. Alvernon Way, just due south of the Tucson Botanical Garden on the same side of the street. Press release:

Tucson and its tourist economy gain the area’s first authentic Japanese garden and a unique new visitor attraction. The non-profit Gardens are located at 2130 Alvernon Way, immediately south of the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

Yume Japanese Gardens showcases five traditional Japanese garden designs on three quarters of an acre. While many of the more than 250 other Japanese gardens in the U.S. are larger, Yume is the southernmost garden in the West and the closest garden to Mexico, making it a convenient destination for travelers from across the border as well as from across the Southwest. The Gardens are projected to draw as many as 20,000 visitors during the first year of operation.

“Yume means “dream” in Japanese,” says the Gardens founder and executive director Patricia Deridder, a Belgian who developed her love of Japanese gardens during a 15-year stay in Japan as a young woman. “It has always been my dream to create an authentic Japanese garden to introduce people to the creative force of Japanese culture.”

Deridder adds, “Yume is a place where you can get in touch with nature and with yourself.” Revealing pathways and layered plantings offer intimate courtyard views of classical Japanese imagery. A Zen contemplative garden, a stone and gravel garden representing sea and islands, and a tranquil strolling pond garden with koi provide further examples of Japanese garden styles. The Gardens were under construction for nearly a year.

Several of us in the Japanese American community were treated to a sneak preview of the garden in October and these three photos were taken by Lew Stallman, husband of Sachiko Suzuki Stallman, who is originally from Japan.

The public is invited begin visiting the Yume Japanese Garden on Saturday January 19, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thanks to the vision, creativity and generosity of Patricia Deridder, this beautiful addition to the gardens of Tucson will be a welcome treat to both locals and visitors. I especially love the koi pond which is the highlight of the garden (see photo below).

For more information contact Assistant Director Allen Boraiko at (520)343-0926 or email P. Deridder at yume@tucsonjapanesegardens.com.

Ticket prices:
Adult $9
Senior (65 & over) $7
Students/Military (with ID) $6
Children ages 3 to 15 $5
Children 2 and under FREE

Group rates (10 or more, need 2 weeks advance booking, one payment): $8, Seniors/Military $6, Students/Children $4

Website: www.tucsonjapanesegardens.com, phone (520) 445-2957.5

Photos of January 15 invitation only grand opening: http://tucsoncitizen.com/community/2013/01/16/yume-japanese-gardens-grand-opening-photos/

I’ve been to this koi show event in the past and it’s really everything you need to know about koi fish, and how to raise them.
More info: www.sakoia.org. They even have Japanese cultural demonstrations at this show, such as swords and traditional dance.

10th Annual Tucson Japanese Speech Contest at Pima Community College East campus, community room in Student Center Building, 8181 E. Irvington Road

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Exhibitions: 12:00 – 4:00

Opening Ceremony: 12:30 – 1:00

Speech Presentations (Category A): 1:00 – 1:20

10 Minute Break

Japanese Traditional Dance by Suzuyuki-Kai: 1:30 – 1:50
Audience Contest

Speech Presentations (Category B, Group 1): 2:00 – 2:20

15 Minute Break

Karate Demonstration by Rendokan Dojo: 2:35 – 3:00
Audience Contest

Speech Presentations (Category B, Group 2): 3:05 – 3:25
Audience Contest

15 Minute Break

Speech Presentations (Category C): 3:40 – 4:10

Taiko Performance by Odaiko Sonora: 4:15 – 4:40

Awards Ceremony: 4:45 – 5:00

I’ve been to this fun event to learn more about my own Japanese culture for the past two years. There will be exhibitions on Kyudo (Japanese Archery), Igo (Japanese Chess), Origami, Furoshiki Wrapping, Temari (Folk Art), Calligraphy, Cosplay, Anime, Aikido, and more!

Information on the previous 9 speech contests: Southern Arizona Association for Japanese Education: http://www.saaje.org/page4contest.html, TucsonJSC@cox.net. The Japan Foundation partially funded this event.