Japan Fair excelled this year compared to last year. This year they had more activities and showcased special performances and presentations at Ngarchamayong Cultural Center. This year special guests from Zao Town of Miyagi Prefecture and members of the Japan-Palau Yacht Race Committee participated in the fair.
There were different stage presentations and performances including Judo, singing of Japanese songs, the Samurai warlord demonstration, jyanken-pon (Rock Scissors Paper) game where they made everyone stand up and participate in the game and the samurai style CHEER for Palau’s athletes to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Japanese Language School students danced the “Paprika” dance, a song that supports the Olympic while Palau High School Theatre and Arts Club did a yukata “summer kimono” show while dancing to the Olympic theme song.
So many activities and activity booths were set up for this fair from making pins with the Japan fair event on it as well as watching the making of the kokeshi dolls and furnishing them in the kokeshi workshop after being decorated. The Kokeshi doll is made of wood consisting of a wooden ball that sits on top of a wooden stick which kids get to decorate by drawing their own made-up character on the doll.
They also had an activity creating friendship bracelets called “misanga” that consisted of making bracelets using different colored ropes and learning different ways to knot it in different styles.
In addition to various activities, they also had a kimono you can try on and wear and take pictures in and the outfits came in many sizes and colors of beautiful soft fabric. There was an area where they can also write names in Japanese characters. They wrote the names on a special kind of paper with ink and a paintbrush.
Enka singer, “Oka Midori” sent a special message congratulating the Embassy of Japan on the 10th Japan Fair. In her message, she expressed how much she enjoyed her first concert in Palau in November 2019 and that she wants to do another concert in Palau in the near future.
Overall, the Japan Fair this year was a more exciting fun-filled activity day that showcased many unique features and cultures of Japan and brought Japanese and Palauanscloser in understanding the culture and shared memories of Japan.