JAPAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Cultural Festival to Raise Funds for Japanese Quake Relief

To aid the victims of the recent earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear power-plant breakdown, funds are being raised through the “Japan-Aid Festival” on Sunday, May 1st from 1 to 4 p.m. at New Hope Academy in Landover Hills (7009 Varnum St., in Landover Hills, Maryland 20784). Demonstrations of Japanese cooking, art, popular music, and flower arranging are highlights of this event, with all donations going to the Red Cross and the Japanese Women’s Federation for World Peace.

 The suggested donation of $10 gets participants an array of Japanese delicacies, including sushi, noodle dishes, or chicken teriyaki as well as access to the benefit concert in the school’s auditorium.  Artists include the Japanese girls choir, “Arigato,” the WAIT team, opera singer Emiko Nadimi in selections from the original symphony “Suite for Peace,” and Maryland’s newest grunge-rock group, “The Rumble,” who will introduce their original works as well as covering a Japanese pop song. Participants can also view demonstrations of traditional Japanese calligraphy on cloth, the art of origami paper folding, and can even share their own vocal talents through karaoke.

 Ms.Yukiyo Sakata, founder of the Tokyo-based floral design studio “Madame Yuki Culture Salon,” is making a special trip from Japan to offer participants a highly unique opportunity: She will teach a lesson in the fine art of Ikebana, and they will create their own floral arrangement to keep, for the modest donation of $8. This is a value of $35 in Japan--not to mention saving the price of the airfare!

Ms. Kaeleigh Moffitt and Ms. Teresa Ferrete, students at the University of Maryland, are chief organizers of the event. Japanese-American residents of Prince George’s County are among the organizers of the festival, including Keiko Burton of Greenbelt, Yoshimi Ozaki of Laurel and Mitsuaki Aoyama of Landover Hills. “Over the years, the Japanese Women’s Federation for World Peace has sent volunteers to build schools in Africa and to do micro-lending to women in developing countries,” explains Mrs. Keiko Burton, “but they rarely have done charitable projects in Japan itself.  This is an opportunity for the people of all countries to give back to Japan at an hour of need.”                                                           END