 The Japan Club of Boston College held a spring festival Friday night that united Japanese culture and food with fun and entertainment.
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The Japan Club of Boston College (JCBC) held its first Spring Festival Friday night in Gasson 100, transforming the room into a festival of Japanese celebrations with food and entertainment. The festivities included free Japanese food, games, and performances that displayed the fun and eclectic culture of Japan.
Harumatsuri means "spring festival" in Japanese, which is celebrated in Japan with drums, lively folk and dance music, and a variety of cultural activities. The JCBC brought this spirit of Harumatsuri to campus by recreating the Japanese festival scene.
"We're trying to imitate local Japanese festivals," said Phoebe Lam, co-president of JCBC, and A&S '07. The night kicked off with food and games, where students and guests were able to sample a number of cultural dishes and try a hand at a number of booth games. The dishes included traditional Japanese foods such as shumai - Japanese dumplings - flank steak, and riceballs, or onigiri. Guests were able to purchase tickets to participate in the various Japanese-inspired activities, which included origami, writing their names in Japanese, and "pinning the tail" on Japanese cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty. They were also able to fish for prizes in a pool of paper sea critters, meant to mimic a traditional Japanese game.
The Spring Festival is the JCBC's first individual culture show, aimed to deliver both modern and traditional culture. "You get to experience all aspects of the Japanese culture with hip-hop dancing and also a drum performance which shows a more traditional aspect," said Lam.
The show started off with the more traditional approach with a taiko drum performance, from the Brown Taiko Club of Brown University. The loud, exciting beat of the drums set the mood for the rest of the night and was followed by a demonstration from the BC Karate Club.
Members of the JCBC performed the So-ran bushi dance, one of the most famous traditional dances of Japan, representing the work of fishermen.
Spring Break
