Tanko Bushi, Sumie and Kendo at the Nihon No Ajiwai Festival

This has been an active Nihon No Ajiwai week.

Ms. Leslie met with Deepika'08, Courtney'08 and Mrs. Collins, Director of the Learn and Serve Service-Learning Center at Camp Fire USA to brainstorm the Tanko Bushi festival finale. Mrs. Leslie and Mrs. Clay then went to a fabric store to look for materials and investigate cost of the happi coats, official Tanko Bushi and festival organizers wear. Mrs. Leslie also met with June'07 who was asked to consider dancing as part of the grand finale. June'07 will be teaching Japanese writing at the festival.

Mr. Ba Luong, from the Vietnamese store, Super Cao, devoted several hours of his time to help improve the sponsor's request letter. He also gave suggestions for promotional materials and shared his sources. Mr. Luong recommended to meet with Mr. Eli Embry to investigate the cost and menu of the festival dinner. It was agreed that a $15.00 per person dinner was a reasonable price to charge for Japanese Food.

Mrs. Blackburn met with Ye-Geun'07 and Mrs. Seitter, Art Teacher at the Upper Division. Mrs. Blackburn agreed to teach Sumie in a 90 minute workshop. Sumie= Japanese Brush Painting.

Mrs. Blackburn also agreed to let the festival use one of her favorite paintings which she titled "Oneness" as the festival's promotional art. We are very lucky to have such a talented and experienced Japanese artist on board.

Mr. Bryan Mosley agreed to do three 30-minute Kendo demonstration at the festival. He will start with a 5 minute background video. Then he will have his students demonstrate.

Dr. Tom Warm was the source of all these contacts. He also worked very hard via e-mail to provide leads for the Tea Ceremony, Shrines of Japan, and Japanese writing instructors as well as names of possible donors. Thank you, Dr. Warm for your priceless contribution to the festival.