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Japan Night brings seasonal change
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor Shiori Takezawa, at right, plays on the drums with the Arashi Taiko Club during the Japan Night celebration Saturday in the Atwood Ballroom.
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 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor Saya Katayama dances a Japanese dance, Nihon Buyo, during the spring portion of the Japan Night celebration Saturday in the Atwood Ballroom.
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More than 500 people experienced a taste of all four seasons � Japanese style � interwoven with everything from traditional and modernized dancing to Kyokushin karate to the replica of a summer festival with beats of taiko drumming.
Darlene Grega, director for the Center for International Studies, attended Japan Night at SCSU for her second time and was impressed by the students who made the night possible and the diversity of people represented in the performances.
"There are about 120 Japanese students who helped make this possible, but as you can see from Taiko (the drumming group that includes Japanese, American, Nepalese and Malaysian members) they've included students of other cultures," Grega said. "This is exactly what cultural diversity sharing should be about."
Japan Club's portrayal of the summer festival impressed many people and perhaps held an extra special meaning for anyone who has ever been in Akita or other parts of Japan for any of the matsuri celebrations. Kazuhiro Machino and Takashi Kashiwagi attempted to balance a large statue with replicas of lanterns on the palms of their hands and on their foreheads to the music of Yukiyo Kamada's flute, the beats of Sanae Sato and Shiori Takezawa's taiko drumming and the clapping and encouragement of the audience.
The club transitioned into the presentation of the fall season with the ninin baori, a comical act that featured two people, one who is completely invisible except for the hands and the other whose face is the only visible body part. The messy objective of the ninin baori was for one individual to feed the other Ramen noodles.
The Kyokushin Karate Club grabbed the audience's full attention with their demonstrative performance. The club held the audience's attention from the time they began their synchronized stretches and warm up kicks until nearly all twelve members successfully broke wooden boards with various styles of kicks and punches. Ko Aizawa, Karate Club president presented the climax as he kicked through two wooden baseball bats. Aizawa's performance seems to have become a tradition of SCSU's Japan Night, a tradition that Grega will never forget.
"Last year's Japan Night holds a special place in my heart," she said.
At last year's event, during the karate baseball bat demonstration, Grega found herself unlucky to be sitting in the front row as the broken baseball bat flew in her direction.
"This year I brought a helmet," Grega said with a smile as she held up the broken bat she received last year and placed a helmet on her head.
To make sure no such mishaps happened again, two karate members attached each end of the bats to their waists with twine and duck tape. Aizawa safely and successfully split the two bats in half with a skilled kick.
Throughout the evening, the audience also had the chance to experience Okinawan dancing with a demonstration of the Para Para by Minnesota State University, Mankato students. The dance is comparable to the American Macarena or Electric Slide.
Seniors Koichi Endo and Nori Yamashita kept the audience laughing in between acts as they performed the comical hige dance. When Endo saw the hige dance performed during his childhood he was impressed and thought it looked interesting. This year for Endo's fourth Japan Night at SCSU he impressed the audience by he performing the dance. The idea that so many people could come together and make an event like Japan night successful was very satisfying for Endo.
"I have some good friends here, and it's wonderful that we can work together to put on a cultural night," Endo said. "I'm happy that we have the chance to do that."
Endo convinced Yamashita to become a hige dancer.
"At first I felt kind of shy about the idea of dancing on stage, but then I decided it would be a good memory," Yamashita said. "It was like an ecstasy in a way � something I never experienced and my first time in an on-stage performance."
Although Akiko Setagawa, a graduate student has been in St. Cloud since the summer of 1998, this was the first Japan Night she attended.
"I think it's good to have cultural events, because here, sometimes people ignore other cultures and this is the opportunity for them to see other cultures and it's an opportunity for me to dress up in my traditional clothes," Setagawa said, referring to the kimono she was wearing, that she made by herself.
For the past several months Setagawa and several other SCSU women dedicated their Wednesdays and weekends to hand-stitching their own kimonos.
"It's a skill I'm proud to have. This is something that even if I get old, or ever grow in size I'll still be able to wear," Setagawa said.
Carolyn Lockwood Sands, graduate student and elementary teacher, also attended her first ever Japan Night. Lockwood Sands believes that although people around the world hold different cultural beliefs, and are familiar with different forms of art, there are things that are universal.
"This reminded me of the international day of peace I'm planning at my school for K-4 students," Lockwood Sands said. "It's important that we celebrate and share differences but also to realize that everybody enjoys music, dancing, and comedy and we're all the same in that respect."
Sharon K. Sobotta can be reached at: [email protected]
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