The First Japanese Cultural Festival in Nakuru

The Japanese Cultural Festival is an annual event that is organised by the Japan Information & Culture Centre (JICC), the cultural and public affairs section of the Embassy of Japan in Kenya. During the Cultural Festival, the members of the audience are exposed to diverse aspects of Japan and the Japanese Culture. Since its inception in 2008, the Japanese Cultural Festival has been held in Nairobi County. Last year saw the start of Japanese Cultural Festivals being held outside Nairobi County. Last year’s festival was held in Kisumu County and this year, for the first time, the Japanese Cultural Festival was held in Nakuru County.

The Japanese Cultural Festival in Nakuru was held at the Old Town Hall (Nakuru Social Hall) on Saturday, September 12, 2015.  The curtain raiser for the Japanese Cultural Festival, which was attended by 200 people, was an acrobatics performance by children from the Street Children’s Assistance Network of Nakuru (SCANN).

Following their performance, the Cultural Festival was officially opened by H.E. Mr. Tatsushi Terada, Ambassador of Japan to Kenya and Mr. Francis G. Mathea, County Executive, Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Social Services, Nakuru County.

After the opening ceremony, members of the audience were invited to visit the various booths which had been set up in order for them to experience different aspects of the Japanese culture. The booths included a shodo booth where participants had their names written for them in Japanese characters, a kimono wearing booth where members of the audience were assisted to put on the kimono which is the traditional Japanese attire, a traditional Japanese games booth where participants were taught various traditional Japanese games, an origami booth where participants were taught to make different objects using a flat sheet of paper and a Japanese green tea tasting booth where members of the audience had the opportunity to have a taste of Japanese green tea.

Following the Japanese cultural experience session, the function moved on to the main event. The main event of the Nakuru Cultural festival was a Japanese Singing Competition. Students from tertiary institutions in Nakuru County sung songs by different Japanese artists.

In addition to the contestants, there were two guest song performances. They also sung Japanese songs. The last performance of the day was a karate demonstration by karate practitioners in Nakuru County. The Cultural festival closed with the awarding of prizes to the competitors.