Obon is an annual summer festival to commemorate our ancestors. While we had to cancel our usual Obon Festival in Como Park, we are instead inviting you to join a festive online event, scheduled for the third week of August. This festival is throwback of  our Spring Festival, Shinshunkai, which we celebrated in March. We greatly appreciate the artists and performers who have agreed to join this event as well. From Sunday, August 15th until Saturday, August 21st you can enjoy videos of performances at any time you want. If you have seen these great performance back in March, please let your friends and family know how great they are!  Now it is their chance to see them!

This event is free for JASM members and $8 for non-members. Please sign up today!

Please support JASM to continue with our mission and activities.

Damien “Nijiya” D’Luxe is a local non-binary half Japanese drag king that is known nation wide. He has been performing for 17 years and is a former cast member of #dragrevolution and Black Hearts Burlesque at Lush in Minneapolis, MN. He also does a lot of guest performances throughout the Twin Cities mostly with Dragged Out (an all kings show in St. Paul) and Flip Phone. He is the “Asian for every occasion” and is known for his transformative make up and style through cosplay and impersonations. 

Kazha is a rock band founded by a Japanese singer-songwriter Kazuha Oda (Kazha) and a guitarist Hideki Matsushige in 2009. Kazuha Oda is a classically trained singer who has worked in various genres of music from Classic to Heavy Metal and currently touring nationally, representing the Birth Place of Rock'n'Roll Memphis, Tennessee.  Kazha represents a new future of music: a fusion of cultures and musical view points that create their sound, combining the softness of a falling feather and the heaviness of a hurricane. Metal. Her work has appeared on the iTunes Top 100 charts of numerous countries for a significant amount of time. She is an Official Ambassadors of "Music Export Memphis"

Kendama Institute, Joshua Grove, President and Director, Co-Founder, is a motivational Kendama educator who as been involved in Kendama education for the past three years. With six years of kendama experience and university studies in psychology, flow Science, mindfulness, growth mindset, social and emotional learning, and child development. He has dedicated his life toward serving in transformative youth education and bringing Kendama into class rooms and gymnasiums around the world.

  

Tomoko Drake, Dango making 

Tomoko Drake, a baker in Twin Cities will teach us how to make dango

    

Yuki Tokuda is a ballet dancer and choreographer based in Twin Cities. She is originally from Shiga and has been living in Minnesota over 10 years. She has been dancing over 30 years and collaborates with other artists and companies.

This piece is an excellent excerpt from Yumé which I collaborated with Asako Hirabayashi. Music is from opera Rusalka by Antonin Dvorak. Rusalka is the daughter of water-goblin who wants nothing more than to be human after she falls in love with a hunter/prince. She sings “Song to the Moon” asking the moon to reveal her love to the Prince. Performed by Momoko Tanno and Asako Hirabayashi. 

Ensō Daiko (Formerly MU DAIKO) offers loud, energetic performances that combine music, dance, culture, and pure athleticism. The group regularly premieres new work adding their unique voice to the expanding canon and innovation of North American taiko. Through performances, studio classes and school residencies, Ensō Daiko has taught thousands of students of all ages and abilities. Ensō Daiko was founded as Mu Daiko in 1997 by Rick Shiomi. New Artistic Director, Jennifer Weir, renamed it Ensō Daiko in 2017, when Taiko Arts Midwest took over the taiko program formerly supported by Theater Mu.

 Performed by: Craig Schultz, Chiako O'Brien, and Hiroshi Yoshino  
The video is a performance of Matsuri (arr by Rick Shiomi), and includes the following folk songs arranged by Hiroshi Yoshino.

- Haru no ogawa (Spring stream) composed by Teiichi Okano
- Hana (Flowers) composed by Rentaro Taki
- Haru ga kita (Spring has come) by Teiichi Okano

Momokusu Iwata, Shamisen Player 

Momokusu Iwata grew up in a family of musicians, but he first developed interest in the shammisen after he was watching an animation, “Naruto”, on TV when he was nine years old. He was surprised by the sound of Tsugaru Shamisen in the show, which made him immediately decide to play the Shamisen.

Momokusu Iwata plays not only traditional folk songs, but also classic, jazz, rock, pops and dance music. He is actively playing in and out of Japan alone and in groups such as “Tokyo futari“and “AOI”. 

In 2019 Momokusu came to Minnesota to play his Shamisen at  the concert of  JASM's annual event, Harukaze. 

Thunder Wave started in 2012 with students from the Japanese community studying at the Minneapolis Japanese School. Their debut performance was at Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and they received a standing ovation for the energetic dance performance of Nanchu Soranbushi.

 Their mission is to bring together the youth in our community for cultural identity and empowerment, and to preserve and introduce Japanese contemporary performing arts to our Japanese, Japanese American, and other communities.

$8: Non-Member

$0: Member

Sunday, August 15th -21st

Please sign up today! The ticket is not refundable, but transferable. 

We would like to inform you that the Obon Festival 2021 has been officially cancelled this year again due to COVID-19. The decision was made with everyone's safety in mind since we do not feel comfortable enough yet to get together with a minimum of 10,000 people.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the Obon Festival 2022! 

Meanwhile, there will be a small program of a lantern release  on the pond at Como Park this year. The date and details will be announced later on this website.

The Obon Festival, the largest Japan-related festival in Minnesota, usually takes place in Como Park every August. Modeled after summer festivals held across Japan, it features stage performances, cultural demonstrations, activities, and, of course, Japanese food.