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［English Edition］
VOICES From
THE NEW YORKERS
Ninohe City Fair in NYC
Susan Hamaker
For the second year, city
officials from
Ninohe City
came to New
York in early
October to
increase
awareness of
and appreciation for the town’s primary specialties: Joboji Urushi lacquer and sake
from Nanbu Bijin Brewery.
In what Ninohe City Mayor Jun
Fujiwara called “a big challenge
for a small town,” the Ninohe City
Fair was a five-day campaign that
included tastings at restaurants Kyo
Ya, En Brasserie, and SakaMai; a
booth at New York Mutual
Trading’ s Japanese Food and
Restaurant Expo; and Urushi seminars at Globus Washitsu and Japan
Society conducted by Urushi artist
Suzanne Ross, who has lived in
Ishikawa Prefecture for 30 years,
and Takuo Matsuzawa of the
Joboji Urushi Workshop.
The tastings highlighted regional
ingredients, including short-horned
cattle, paired with several kinds of
Nanbu Bijin sake, which brews
with local water and rice.
Ninohe City is a town of around
30,000 people in Iwate Prefecture
in Northeastern Japan and produces
80% of the country’ s lacquer.
Joboji Urushi is used in the preservation of UNESCO World
Heritage Sites such as Kinakuji in
Kyoto and Toshogu in Nikko.
Fewer Japanese people are interested in the time-consuming practice
of creating lacquerware, so this
rich tradition is rapidly fading,
something Ninohe City officials
want to prevent.
(Susan is the writer/editor of
JapanCultureNYC, an English-language website for all things
Japanese in New York.)
週刊NY生活　SHUKAN NEW YORK SEIKATSU
NYクール日本
COOL JAPAN from New Yorkers’ Viewpoints
100 Kimono Beauties
Gathering in NY
from NIHON WASOU
100 Japanese women wearing
gorgeous Kimono. They are
graduated students from NIHON
WASOU which expands kimono
wearing classes for free throughout Japan. They came from Japan
in honor of the first event
“Kimono Yuyukai”, a popular
event in Japan, in NY. During
this event, a kimono party, a
kimono photography event, a
new kimono sale in advance for
the next year etc. were held in
Hotel Kitano.
The people, who won the grand
prizes of each category in the 7th
Kimono brilliant national convention held in Imperial Hotel
Tokyo on Aug. 7-8th, also participated this time. They went to
Grand Central. via Park Ave.
They took a commemorative
photo in front of a clock tower.
New Yorkers were also surprised
at 100 Kimono beauties.
Japanese beauty made the gigantic station lively. (Ryoichi Miura/
Translated by Eriko Maruoka)
2014年（平成26年）10月18日（土)
The 7th 9.11
“Circle Wind”
Memorial Concert
The 7th 9.11 “Circle Wind”
Memorial Concert, which is for
remembrance for victims of 9-11
attacks and 3-11 Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami, was
held on September 11 at Merkin
Concert Hall in Kaufman Music
Center. Japan Chorus Harmony
(TOMO, Director Masaki
Shirota)joined this concert as a
host from 2011.
They attended “ Cultural
Exchange Project with Haiku and
Chorus” held at a world heritage
site, the Alcazar of Seville,in
Seville, Spain, which was the
400th year anniversary of Keichoera mission from Japan to Europe.
With this special memory, TOMO
sang several same songs at 9.11
Circle Wind Memorial Concert as
those in Seville. TOMO sang a
song about a bullfighter, Trero
Camomillo, which they delightfully sang with Spanish people
whose family name were Japan,
with Leceum Kennedy Japanese
School students.
Miki Orihara showed a modern
dance with a song composed by
Senri Oe. Swing 16 played gypsy
jazz as a special participant, and
the Manhattan Symphony
Orchestra played in Part 2. They
could collect $1354.34 for donation for victims. In addition,
TOMO will deliver $700 each for
temporary houses in Idate village,
Fukushima and Terakoya in
Ishinomaki, Miyagi when they
have a concert on October 11 and
12.(Ryoichi Miura/ Translated by
Chiaki Yoshida)
Rugby “Japan Cup” Kickoff on Oct 18
The 10th Rugby Football
Tournament “Japan Cup” will be
held at Keio Academy of New York
(3 College Rd) on October 18th
(Sat) from 10 am. The tournament
is held annually as a district match
of rugby football teams that are
made up of mainly Japanese members from New York, Los Angeles,
Seattle, and Chicago. New York
team won last year.
NY All Japan RFC, which was
started in 1986, consists of members who are Japanese expatriate
employees and students, and some
Americans and Koreans from age range
of 20s to 50s. More than 90 people
enter the tournament. In the night of
the day, there will be a social gathering based on ‘no side spirit’ (regardless
of friend or foe, players praise each
other on their battle bravely after the
match) at Nippon Club. (Ryoichi
Miura/Translated by Mai Moore)
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