The 11th “Family Event for Parents and Children” was held on Saturday, June 3 at Nippon Club building for the first time in four years. The 2020 event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, 2021 was held as a virtual event, and 2022 was held as a field trip (tour of the American Museum of Natural History & picnic in Central Park). And this year, it finally returned to the Nippon Club. Ms. Saori Goda was the emcee for the event.

The event began at 1:00pm, and the first thing to do was to have lunch. A snack bento specially prepared by Chef Yasuoka was served. After lunch, the event continued with performances, booths, singing, dancing, taiko drumming, and fun, and the laughter of the children filled the venue.

Program of Family Event 2023

<Performances>
●  The clown is here! Comical performance show by Mariko Iwasa
●  Fun picture story shows: Issunboshi/Kaguyahime/Bunbuku Chagama by Shigeno Ichimura
●  Children’s Japanese drum (taiko) performance and mini-workshop by Biwanko Group
●  HUG MUSIC! Let’s enjoy music together by Kana Kamitsubo
●  Shishimai lion dance performance and mini-workshop of Bon Odori dance with hand-clapping by Kevin Suzuki

<Event Booths>
●  Demonstration and tasting of Temakizushi (hand roll) by Chef Hideki Yasuoka and Akira Suzuki
●  Candy Craft by Candy5
●  Water yo-yo scooping by Amnet
●  Face painting by Rie Nishimura
●  Portrait art by Marina Yoshikawa
●  Tattoo parlor by Yukiyoh Oyama and Mariko Lubol (Mariko Oyama)
●  Origami Art by Yoko Essel and Nao Yamada
●  Culture Courses “Table Tea Ceremony Demonstration” by Sosen Onishi and Soyu Saegusa
●  Culture Courses “Craft: Let’s make Sushi with paper and cotton balls” by Minako Ota
●  Superhero Figure Display by Makoto Kageyama

We would like to share with you some comments from participants and their reasons for attending the event.

“The staff made it easy for us to participate in the activities, and my children don’t speak Japanese, but the people at the booths speak English, so they enjoyed the event very much. I hope we can participate again next year.”

“We had a great time. It was nice that there were activities for adults to enjoy as well.”

“We participated because I wanted my children to experience an event related to Japan.”

“I wanted my child to experience a Japanese festival in a safe environment without worrying about the weather.”

”I’m not Japanese and my family is not Japanese, but I love exposing my daughters to all cultures and while we cannot go to Japan yet, I’m happy we were able to experience some Japan over midtown Manhattan. I hope we can go again! Everything was amazing.”

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our member companies who sponsored this event and thank the organizations and individuals who supported this event.

<Sponsors>
■ Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc.
■ SCSK USA Inc.
■ Brother International Corporation
■ Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.
■ MOL (Americas) LLC
■ Nomura Research Institute America, Inc.
■ Sojitz Corporation of America
■ Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
■ Toray Industries (America), Inc.

＜Cooperating Organizations and Individuals>
■ Amnet New York
■ Essel Photography
■ ITO EN North America
■ Japanese Educational Institute
■ Yoko Suzuki

Thank you to everyone who participated, performed and cooperated in the event. See you again at next year’s family event!