2014年09月21日
International Festival
Takamatsu city puts a lot of effort into making foreign visitors and residents feel welcome. The city’s international association, which is housed in this historic building, provides helpful information in a variety of languages as well as many other services.
To raise awareness of the need for intercultural understanding and communication and to encourage networking, the city collaborates with the prefecture to host the annual Kagawa International Festival.
This event, which has been held for the last 20 years, brings Japanese and foreign residents together to share and enjoy human diversity. A popular attraction are the many booths serving gourmet food from different countries.
Intercultural menu
In addition to the Japanese festival staple of yakisoba (fried noodles) served by the local Lions’ Club
this year’s festival included Korean chijimi
Jamaican brown stew
Nepalese curry
And many other delights. Visitors also get to try wearing the costumes of many different lands, such as these two women here.
The festival is popular with children because there are plenty of games, crafts and workshops to be enjoyed. It also showcases local NGOs and volunteer organizations involved in international assistance and exchange programs. It was great to see groups like the Boy Scouts actively involved, as well as university students who set up booths selling fair trade goods from Cambodia, Laos and other countries,
and promoted awareness of the disparity in wealth through the Table for Two movement.
This year’s program featured foreign film screenings, workshops with Kagawan artists and cultural performances, including these lovely Japanese ladies who performed Indonesian dances
and a troupe of Cambodian children who performed traditional and very dynamic Khmer dances.
These children were invited to Japan by local NGO Second Hand to celebrate its 20th anniversary and raise money for Homeland, a Cambodian orphanage that gives street children and children sold into slavery a haven where they can learn and grow. The troupe performed daily at the JR Takamatsu station as well.
Finally, the festival is just a great place to meet lots of friendly, happy people!
For more info on Takamatsu:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Takamatsu
http://www.city.takamatsu.kagawa.jp/english/
http://tia-takamatsu.jp/
http://www.my-kagawa.jp/eg/
Other Takamatsu bloggers:
http://pat.ashita-sanuki.jp/
http://setouchiexplorer.com/
To raise awareness of the need for intercultural understanding and communication and to encourage networking, the city collaborates with the prefecture to host the annual Kagawa International Festival.
This event, which has been held for the last 20 years, brings Japanese and foreign residents together to share and enjoy human diversity. A popular attraction are the many booths serving gourmet food from different countries.
Intercultural menu
In addition to the Japanese festival staple of yakisoba (fried noodles) served by the local Lions’ Club
this year’s festival included Korean chijimi
Jamaican brown stew
Nepalese curry
And many other delights. Visitors also get to try wearing the costumes of many different lands, such as these two women here.
The festival is popular with children because there are plenty of games, crafts and workshops to be enjoyed. It also showcases local NGOs and volunteer organizations involved in international assistance and exchange programs. It was great to see groups like the Boy Scouts actively involved, as well as university students who set up booths selling fair trade goods from Cambodia, Laos and other countries,
and promoted awareness of the disparity in wealth through the Table for Two movement.
This year’s program featured foreign film screenings, workshops with Kagawan artists and cultural performances, including these lovely Japanese ladies who performed Indonesian dances
and a troupe of Cambodian children who performed traditional and very dynamic Khmer dances.
These children were invited to Japan by local NGO Second Hand to celebrate its 20th anniversary and raise money for Homeland, a Cambodian orphanage that gives street children and children sold into slavery a haven where they can learn and grow. The troupe performed daily at the JR Takamatsu station as well.
Finally, the festival is just a great place to meet lots of friendly, happy people!
For more info on Takamatsu:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Takamatsu
http://www.city.takamatsu.kagawa.jp/english/
http://tia-takamatsu.jp/
http://www.my-kagawa.jp/eg/
Other Takamatsu bloggers:
http://pat.ashita-sanuki.jp/
http://setouchiexplorer.com/
My Profile
Cathy Hirano キャシー ヒラノ
I've lived in Japan since 1978. After graduating from a Japanese university with a BA in cultural anthropology in 1983, I worked as a translator in a Japanese consulting engineering firm in Tokyo for several years. My Japanese husband and I moved to Takamatsu in 1987 to raise our two children in a slower-paced environment away from the big city pressures. We've never regretted it. I work as a freelance translator and interpreter and am involved in a lot of community work, including volunteering for Second Hand, a local NGO that supports educational and vocational training initiatives in Cambodia, and for the Takamatsu International Association. I love living in Takamatsu.
Cathy Hirano キャシー ヒラノ
I've lived in Japan since 1978. After graduating from a Japanese university with a BA in cultural anthropology in 1983, I worked as a translator in a Japanese consulting engineering firm in Tokyo for several years. My Japanese husband and I moved to Takamatsu in 1987 to raise our two children in a slower-paced environment away from the big city pressures. We've never regretted it. I work as a freelance translator and interpreter and am involved in a lot of community work, including volunteering for Second Hand, a local NGO that supports educational and vocational training initiatives in Cambodia, and for the Takamatsu International Association. I love living in Takamatsu.
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