Photos by Madeline Pado
Kites, drumming, koi, bonsai, origami and martial arts took over Margret T. Hance Park Saturday to celebrate Kite Day.
The Japanese Friendship Garden hosted the festival, a combination of three Japanese holidays — Boys’ Day, Girls’ Day and Shichi-Go-San, which celebrates kids who are seven years old, five years old and three years old, organizer Sarah Price said. Boys’ day in Japan is a kite festival, which is where the name of the festival came from.
The staff enjoys putting on events for children, said Susan McCall, executive director for the Japanese Friendship Garden.
“Kids of all ages love flying kites,” McCall said.
Price spent most of the day in the kite booth where kids could buy and color their own kite designed to fly in low wind.
“Kids ran up to the kite booth and said, ‘I love kite festival.’ That was fun to see,” Price said.
Brian Randall brought his family to the festival and said his kids always look forward to it.
“We go every year. The kids like to see the different culture,” Randall said.
Another community member, Julia McDonnell, said the kids in her family made and flew their own kites.
McDonnell said she found the bonsai trees and origami birds fascinating.
Both Randall and McDonnell remarked that there were fewer people than they were expecting. Randall, who has been to several Kite Days, said there are usually more in attendance.
Possible reasons for the drop in turnout include people preparing for Palm Sunday or Easter, the heat causing families with small children to stay home and lack of advertisement, other than though Facebook and fliers, McCall said.
The Phoenix Bonsai Society joined the festivities bringing bonsai displays and answering questions about the trees, the society and the history of bonsai trees.
Monks brought the tradition, which originated in China, to Japan 3,000-4,000 years ago. It stuck because the small trees could be used by poor people who didn’t own much land, Bonsai Society member Alex Gray said.
Valley of the Sun Koi Club had temporary koi tanks set up and some fish for sale. Unlike in previous years, there was no koi competition.
An origami booth was also set up where anyone could create different animals.
Besides kites, bonsai, koi and oragami, a stage was erected in the park for displays of Japanese culture. The first performance was traditional Japanese drumming – taiko – performed by the Fushicho Diako studio. Because it was a day for kids, the youth group, Kemushi, or caterpillar, performed.
The three children of the Kemushi group performed traditional taiko songs as well as a song the group wrote with the help of their instructor, Eileen Morgan. After their performance, audience members were invited on stage to try playing.
“I think it’s important to have other cultures in big cities like this. It avoids the monoculture,” Morgan said.
The drums could not only be heard throughout the park, but also in the neighborhoods around the park.
“I think it draws in people maybe if they didn’t know about the event,” Morgan said.
Following the taiko performance was a martial arts demonstration from Arizona Aikido.
During the performance, the audience learned through participation that Aikido works best when the artist is relaxed. In pairs, one person tried to bend their partner’s arm while the the other resisted. The person trying to bend the arm normally succeeded, until the person used an Aikido-based technique of relaxing their arm and not resisting as much. Even a stronger person couldn’t bend their partner’s arm if they were using the technique.
Stephen Jeckel, criminal justice major and martial artist, demonstrated break falls and different techniques, some with practice swords and knives.
The demonstration helped show the audience that martial arts is more than just what is on TV. It told the history of Aikido and explained that not all martial arts result in violence, Jeckel said.
“Overall, we truly can learn that the community of peace and love and harmony can triumph. Aikido brings the sense that we can come together,” Jeckel said.
An artistic booth at the festival was for Saboten Con 2012, where kids could color anime pictures of Hello Kitty, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and others. The most popular picture was Hello Kitty, said Greg Fennell, convention chairman of Saboten Con.
Kite Day itself helps bring the community together and a sense of culture, Fennell said, and anime, which his booth shared, gives kids another art form.
Contact the reporter at mlongdon@asu.edu
