JSFC Fall Festival 2024

The Japan Society of Fairfield County held a very successful Fall Festival on SUNDAY, September 8, 2024 on Jesup Green, outside the Westport Library, 20 Jesup Road, Westport, CT 06880, from 1:00 pm to 4 pm.

New York Taiko Aiko Kai of Teacher’s College, Columbia University started off the festival, and played again in the middle. They finished by leading a hands-on workshop, followed by their final performance.

For the first time we had a demonstration of Radio Taiso, led by JSFC Secretary/Treasurer Nancy Beck. Several festival attendees joined in. This gentle fitness routine. set to music, is widely practiced in Japan. It was first introduced nearly a century ago and remains a staple of daily life with 6:30 AM broadcasts on TV and radio. Taking just three minutes to perform, they are designed to be suitable for all ages. You can see a teaching video by the Japan-America Society of Houston here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOBmeESO4A

Bon-Dan NYC led 5 Japanese Bon dances: TANKO-BUSHI, HANAGASA-ONDO, AWA ODORI (Choreography and original music by Takarabune), AIUE ONDO, and TOKYO ONDO. Bon-Dan NYC is a dance group for Bon-Odori, traditional Japanese folk dance, established in 2019 based in New York City.

"Balloon" play Story of the Zodiac cast

Noriko Oshiro, board member and event coordinator for the Japan Society of Greater Hartford, has been twisting balloons for more than 10 years. She writes, directs, and narrates short plays based on Japanese folktales, using props made of twisted balloons. This year she made a balloon arch for the festival. The plays she created, directed and narrated this year were Obon season & the Water Lantern Festival” and “the Story of the Zodiac”. Several volunteers helped act out the stories by holding balloon props.

Aikido of Norwalk (Kongōshinkan Dōjō ) gave demonstrations of the Japanese martial art of Aikido. For over 20 years Aikido of Norwalk has been providing training in aikido. Their classes are conducted in a traditional manner. Class sizes are small with a high level of personalized attention. At our festival they also led meditation sessions.