Topic: Event
LOS ANGELES.-The Japanese American National Museum will hold its annual Oshogatsu (New Year's) program with live performances and arts and crafts for children of all ages on Sunday, January 7, 2007, from 11 a.m.to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
"Oshogatsu: New Year's Day Family Festival" will be highlighted by a series of performances outdoors (weather permitting) that begins with the Kodama Taiko group presenting their mochitsuki program to commemorate the New Year at 11:15 a.m. The group pounds the steamed sweet rice while playing taiko. They will also perform again at 4:00 p.m.
Eth-Noh-Tec, a San Francisco-based interdisciplinary theater company that combines spoken word and precision choreography, will present various folktales and stories of ancient Asian mythologies at both 12 noon and 2:00 p.m. The subject matter is suitable for kids of all ages.
At 3:00 p.m., a family concert will be performed by Samba at Saticoy, an after school volunteer children's ensemble. The group, directed by Lee Corbin, is based at the Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood and highlights spirited rhythms from Brazil.
From 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., several arts and crafts activities will be available to all visitors. The creation of bird pins, a craft practiced by Japanese American confined in domestic concentration camps during World War II, will be taught using a variety of materials. Also, participants can learn how to make a daruma puppet. A daruma is a good luck charm in Japan often used when someone has a wish. The wisher will draw one eye for the daruma and if the wish comes true, fill in the other eye.
Museum staff and volunteers will also teach origami to visitors. Ori means to fold and kami is the Japanese word for paper. A variety of objects made out of folded paper will be available to anyone who wishes to learn. Finally, the traveling exhibition, Ansel Adams in Manzanar, is installed at the Japanese American National Museum until February 18, 2007. Visitors can have a Polaroid taken with friends and family to create a special mural for the New Year.
Oshogatsu (the New Year) is the most important occasion in Japanese culture. Much preparation is done beforehand, including a thorough cleaning of homes, the paying of debts and the completion of tasks or projects. The New Year marks a number of firsts for each individual and their families, including first meals, often eating food related to good health, and first visits to their temples. Individuals also make resolutions for the coming year. Traditionally, the National Museum has marked the New Year with arts and crafts and performances on the first Sunday of the year following New Year's Day.
This program is sponsored, in part, by the James Irvine Foundation and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. For more information, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414 or go to www.janm.org.
