我孫子市国際交流協会

Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Venue: Abiko Civic Plaza
Theme: "We are all neighbors"

The 2009 festival was kicked off by a gallant shout of the all working members which echoed in the gallery.
Entertainments at the stage and colorful exhibition at the gallery, serene atmosphere at the tea ceremony area and many other selections entertained hundreds of visitors all day long. The highlights of the event are as follows.
1. Lobby: In the teahouse specially set up at the lobby many visitors and foreign people appreciated green teas by following tea-serving manners.
Ikebana display was another spot flocked for picture taking by delighted foreigers in kimonos, which teachers of kimono school helped them get dressed.

2. Gallery: Numbers of colorful and various styles of clothes hung on the wall attracted visitors' attention. They were special collection of clothes titled "The Ethnic Dresses of the World" featuring 36 clothes from 22 nations under the cooperation of AIRA's foreign students, AIRA members
and many others. "How are they collected that many !" was one of visitors' admiration.
Tens of pictures of people beautifully attired in ethnic dresses fixed attention of all viewers. So did the small but attractive corner of 26 dolls from many countries. A young woman expressed, "How cute is this ! ".
In the middle of the gallery, a special calligraphy demonstration was held. Ms. Son Ben, an eminent Chinese calligrapher handwrote several Chinese letters in front of spectators. Some people rejoiced of a lucky presents from her which were specially brushed for them. Her several masterpieces in old and modern writing hung on the wall also attracted attention of calligraphy lovers.
At the AIRA corner, numerous pictures showing annual activities were exhibited together with brief explanations. Newly made handy leaflets "Welcome To AIRA" were distributed.
Two snack stands, the popular AIRA shop and the one run by students, catered hungry people with light meals and soft drinks. Chinese teas seldom seen in Japan were one of popular items.
Twentyfour men and women from fourteen nations in ethnic clothes strolled around the hall and finally lined up on the stage. Two staffs, a man and a woman, interviewed them about the name of the country, name of the dress and the occasion of wearing them. Just imagine how was the show gorgeous and spectacular !

3. Hall : At 1:00 p.m. sharp, the opening ceremony was held with a welcome address by Mr. Ichiro Shiina, the President of AIRA, saying "We sincerely wish all guests will enjoy the encounter of culture of Japan and the world", followed by a congraturatory message by Mr. Junichiro Hoshino, Mayor of Abiko, and introduction of official guests.
The leadoff player of the entertainment was chorus by Japanese class students titled "Love will overcome". After the passionate singing, 23 students made brief self-introduction.
Then two Russian players performed dancing and playing musical instrument. Particularly the audience showed strong interest in the playing of Balalaika, a traditional and exotic Russian triangular instrument.
On the stage the final process of kimono dressing, Obi-jime was demonstrated with two foreign women as models.
How-to-put a kimono is not an easy custom even for Japanese. Although women in Kimono are often observed in the town, the wearing processing is rare to be seen. The demonstration raised big applause of the spectators.
A Mongolian student played songs of her country and Japan by Kokyuu, an oriental dual-stringed instrument.
The stage proceeded to the program of performance by students of five different foreign languages classes. First the English class students demonstrated quizzes on World Heritages showing on the screen noted buildings in the world. All names of country, city and relic were duly answered by the audience.
Students of four other languages sang songs of each nation in the original language: "The Friend" by Chinese class group; "From the beginning to now", the theme tune of the drama "The Sonata in Winter" by Korean class students; "Besame Mucho" and "La Bamba" by the Spanish group; "Salade de Fruits"by the gaily singing French members mostly wreathed with lovely flower on the hair or a small bouquet in hand.
At the end of the French chorus, all singers and the audience sang together Japanese song "Kitaguni no Haru" led by foreign university students.
Although performance by boys and girls had been cancelled because of swine influenza, everyone in the hall looked enjoyed the whole program of the 2009 Festival.
Finally, Mr. I. Shiina thanked the audience for coming to the festival and for the cooperation of all the members concerned.