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Japanese Day to highlight traditional and modern culture

Kernot Hall in Morwell will be transformed into a cultural haven of all things Japanese on Sunday 25 September as Latrobe City celebrates its annual Japanese Day from 10.30 to 3.30pm. Entry is free.

By news@gippsland - 13th September 2005 - Back to News

Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Bruce Lougheed, said that the event would mark the fifth anniversary of the sister city relationship with Takasago, Japan and would be a day to explore the intriguing culture of the nation.

"To celebrate this occasion, the Japanese Day festivities will include demonstrations of Japanese drumming and martial arts, calligraphy, origami (paper folding) and ikebana (flower arranging).

"As the traditional tea ceremony proved so popular last year, it will be performed on the hour every hour during this year’s event. Visitors can also enjoy a demonstration of the Bon dance, a traditional folk dance.

"There will be Japanese food stalls, crafts, art exhibitions, toy-making, sumo wrestling and a host of Japanese items for sale including fabrics, green tea and food stuffs," Cr Lougheed explained.

"An innovative, visual aspect new for Japanese Day this year will be an exciting exhibit from the World Expo currently being held in Aichi, Japan. A portable Virtual Room has been developed in Melbourne to show 3D movies and three of these movies under the ‘Victoria Goes Expo’ banner will be shown at Kernot Hall. In the first movie, visitors will have an opportunity to ‘virtually’ experience the Australian Pavilion at World Expo. The other two movies are about Exploring Mars and Australian Polar Dinosaurs.

"These films are sure to challenge your perception of moving image and will be a must for visitors to Japanese Day," Cr Lougheed explained.

Cr Lougheed added that this year, the festivities were timed to coincide with the opening day of the Australian Sister Cities Associations (ASCA) national conference which is being hosted by Latrobe City from 25 to 28 September.

"This is an exciting time for Latrobe City, with delegations arriving from our sister cities in Takasago, Japan and Taizhou, China for the ASCA conference along with visitors from all over Australia and overseas," Cr Lougheed explained.

"The ASCA vision is to achieve greater understanding, friendship and community benefit from sister city relationships. Latrobe City has certainly gained on economic, social and cultural fronts from its relationships with both Takasago and Taizhou. It is pleasing that delegates at the conference will have an opportunity to find out more about these mutually-beneficial associations, along with being able to explore Latrobe City’s commercial, industrial and tourist facilities," Cr Lougheed concluded.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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