'Ohana festival celebrates best of many cultures

By Zenaida Serrano
Advertiser Staff Writer

At the Japanese Cultural Center's 'Ohana Festival, children play games from various cultures and create take-home crafts such as an ema, a Japanese painting on which New Year wishes are written. Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i New Year's 'Ohana Festival 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and Mo'ili'ili Field Free admission 945-7633 Also: A free trolley service will run from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Dole Street parking structure and JCCH throughout the day. Parking is free at the UH parking garage.

But organizers of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i's New Year's 'Ohana Festival promise all that and much more.

The festival — Sunday at the center and Mo'ili'ili Field — will be a showcase of multicultural cuisine and entertainment; Japanese art displays and demonstrations; a craft fair and antiques and book sales; and keiki make-n-take activities, games and rides.

The event honors Japanese traditions while featuring Hawai'i's diverse cultures, as many Japanese Islanders today come from hapa backgrounds, said event chairman Donn Ariyoshi.

"We can do events like this so people can understand their own (Japanese) culture and other cultures," Ariyoshi said. "But at the same time we want to remember our (Japanese) parents' and their parents' contributions, and we still want to preserve and share that." Donn Ariyoshi's parents, by the way, are former Gov. George and Jean Ariyoshi.

Visitors can learn about different Japanese cultural art forms presented by the Classic Bonsai Club, the Japanese Animation Society of Hawai'i, Nihon Shuji's professional calligraphers and more. Hands-on workshops include origami (paper folding), chigirie (paper tearing art) and oshibana (pressed flower art).

There will be an area devoted to keiki activities, including the Japanese Fukuwarai game, similar to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and Chinese, Moroccan and Mexican craft projects. A large jumper, wall climber and a train round out the keiki diversions.

And what's a festival without fare?

"We won't run out of food like we did last year," Donn Ariyoshi said and laughed, "and there will be a lot more water and shade."

At last year's event, which drew nearly 7,000 guests, food booths sold out within hours. So organizers are doubling up on grinds, with more than a dozen booths offering dishes that range between $2 and $6.

Local Kenjin Kai, or prefecture clubs, will prepare Japanese dishes such as Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, a dish that layers vegetables, yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) and meat between a crepe and fried egg that is sprinkled with aonori (dried seaweed flakes).

Other dishes on the menu include Hawaiian and Korean plates, chicken and beef bowls, andagi (Okinawan doughnuts) and shaved ice.

There also will be 20-plus performances on two stages: one in the cultural center courtyard to showcase Japanese and Okinawan entertainment, and another on Mo'ili'ili Field, featuring a variety of cultural performances, said Brandon Hayashi, the center's programs director.

Entertainment includes Japanese sword and fan dancing, Okinawan lion dancing and martial arts showcases, as well as Filipino dancing, Scottish bagpipes and contemporary Island music.

"I think the overall goal is to let people know, through the festival, that being Japanese American doesn't mean celebrating only Japanese-related things," Hayashi said.

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.