So, after days of painting, the family went down to the Japanese Festival at Hermann Park near the Theatre Under the Stars.
Apparently there was some sort of cosplay contest, but really, we must have missed it. But it tells a lot, walking through the crowd. A lot of kids were there, in their costume kimonos, ears, and handmade costumes. There was even a booth selling tickets for a 2014 anime event - two weeks after they'd just finished this year's event (so, you gotta admit, at least they're on the ball).
The Japanese Garden, which is attached to the park, was open. I am sure it's rather Zen and peaceful when it's not being overrun by thousands of people, and we did a few photo-ops there (there IS a posting that you're not allowed to take professional pictures there..).
I was kind of disappointed that there was so much cheap Asian crap there. Cheaply made wholesale order junk, and stuff that really was non-related to Japanese culture.
I will have to interject here, that a group of people showed up and started doing African drumming and dancing. They even had their little wicker basket out for 'donations'. This...really pissed me off. It was more disconcerting than the silly little anime kids. I mean, it was NOT a multi-cultural festival...it was Japanese. How dense and how much of a jerk do you have to be to crash someone else's celebration? What kind of butthead does that? I wanted to slap that little stupid little kufi right off their bezels.
The very best thing? The Taiko drumming. Taminari Taiko was the group that played. I mean, I didn't realize that they taught that kind of drumming outside of Japan...so I was like, "Hey....Look at that group of really white Japanese drummers...." But they did such an amazing job. I was amused that when they started the composition dealing with the Thunder God that the clouds covered the sun (and the day before, it rained when they did it. heh.), but you could see the energy of the group, how they were really working at it hard, but it was a labor of love. They had a good time, they had high energy, and they played with their hearts and souls. We got to see the last show, the closing show, the drumming - and it was phenomenal.
Hopefully, we can go next year. I would love to see more traditional things, like dancing and pageantry (you know, the traditional dances which tell lore of old gods and goddesses).
I was kind of disappointed that there was so much cheap Asian crap there. Cheaply made wholesale order junk, and stuff that really was non-related to Japanese culture.
I will have to interject here, that a group of people showed up and started doing African drumming and dancing. They even had their little wicker basket out for 'donations'. This...really pissed me off. It was more disconcerting than the silly little anime kids. I mean, it was NOT a multi-cultural festival...it was Japanese. How dense and how much of a jerk do you have to be to crash someone else's celebration? What kind of butthead does that? I wanted to slap that little stupid little kufi right off their bezels.
The very best thing? The Taiko drumming. Taminari Taiko was the group that played. I mean, I didn't realize that they taught that kind of drumming outside of Japan...so I was like, "Hey....Look at that group of really white Japanese drummers...." But they did such an amazing job. I was amused that when they started the composition dealing with the Thunder God that the clouds covered the sun (and the day before, it rained when they did it. heh.), but you could see the energy of the group, how they were really working at it hard, but it was a labor of love. They had a good time, they had high energy, and they played with their hearts and souls. We got to see the last show, the closing show, the drumming - and it was phenomenal.
Hopefully, we can go next year. I would love to see more traditional things, like dancing and pageantry (you know, the traditional dances which tell lore of old gods and goddesses).
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