Local News
Botanical Gardens Hosts ‘07 Japanese Festival
September 5, 2007
By Lee Engelhardt
This past Labor Day weekend, running from Sept. 1 – 3, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., the Missouri Botanical Gardens held their ever-popular Japanese Festival. Admission was $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $3 for children 3-12. There were, however, deals available to those who signed up as garden members.
There is hardly a more appropriate place for the festival, as the gardens are home to the Seiwa-en, one of the largest traditional Japanese gardens in North America, covering 14 acres, and many of the best flowers are in bloom during the time surrounding the festival. Walking tours of the garden were offered every half hour.
The festival was not about the garden, however. The festival was a presentation of all that is Japanese culture both old and new. This was most prominent in the Japanese marketplace that visitors came upon as they entered the garden grounds. There visitors could browse among a very diverse assortment of items such as kimonos, pocky, bonsai trees, anime T-shirts, lucky cat statues, and other memorabilia.
Scheduled throughout each day was a selection of events and presentations taking place throughout the garden grounds, each presenting a different facet of Japanese culture and history. Tea ceremonies were held in a small teahouse on one of the islands of the Seiwa-en garden. Tickets were required to join in the ceremonies and only 12 were available for a given time slot, making them very hard to find. There was the Bon Odori, a dance celebrating the end of summer with dancers wearing colorful yukata robes. There were also groups who focused on the music of Japan such as the Niji choral group, Gaku instrumental group, and the rhythmic Taiko drums played by St. Louis’ own St. Louis Osuwa Taiko group.
In terms of crafts there were workshops on origami, kimekomi dolls, and pottery along with presentations and displays of Bonsai, the art of growing miniature trees and Ikebana flower arranging.
As one would expect, there were numerous martial arts presentations demonstrating various different styles such Kendo and Judo, as well as the classic Koryu Bugei used in feudal Japan when the martial arts were used exclusively in military endeavors.
For the third year running a pair of retired professional sumo wrestlers going under the fighting names “Koryu” and “Sunahama,” joined in the festivities answering questions and putting on a quick demonstration. Both were originally from Hawaii but moved to Japan in 1990 to become sumo wrestlers. When asked what attracted them, Sunahama said, “I’ve always loved sports but hated running.” They also confirmed that in Japan, “Yes, sumo wrestlers really are like rock stars with groupies and super model wives and girlfriends.” Ms. Mina Hall, who has written a book on sumo and runs the website www.EvertythingSumo.com, did most of the talking, relaying various facts and trivia. Finally, the two sumo wrestlers performed various stretches and exercises as well as a few bouts against each other and a willing audience member.
There were also attractions specifically aimed at children such as the Kodomo No Asobi, childrens game area, with traditional Japanese games as well as origami and top spinning, the Dashi, which is an decorated stage built on a cart which the children would pull around, and the Candyman, a street entertainer who formed sculptures of spun sugar and performed lion dances.
At the end of the day participants enjoyed purely modern Japanese culture; the first two days of the festival ended with karaoke and some anime, though visitors were also invited to take a candlelight walk through the Japanese garden.
For more information about the Missouri Botanical Gardens and their upcoming events, including next year’s Japanese Festival, you can visit them online at www.MoBot.com
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