The 6th Annual Japanese Festival was a treat for all who attended.
The 6th Annual Japanese Festival hosted by Washougal High School and organized by Shoko Fuchigami and several of her WHS & JMS Japanese students was a treat for all who watched. Those in attendance enjoyed many performances which included a Kendo demonstration, The Minidoka Swing band, Yasuko Fields, Angel Mirabilis, The Monmouth Taiko Drummers and the WHS & JMS Japanese students.
The WHS community wants to thank all of the performers and the individuals who attended this year's festival.
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Additional Information
The Minidoka Swing Band was formed in 2007 by Roberta Tsuboi and Marilyn Loy to encourage youth to remember the perseverance and accomplishments of those who were interned at U.S. Internment Camps during World War II. The Minidoka Pilgrimage in 2008 enabled the Minidoka Swing Band and Unite People Youth Group to visit and experience first hand a Japanese American Internment Camp. A lot of the youth that were a part of the initial group have moved on to college and have had to leave the band, but the band continues its mission to educate everyone about the sacrifices and selfless efforts of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Music was an important part of life during the internment period and this kind of entertainment helped the internees cope during this trying time.
Yasuko Fields has qualified to receive a teaching certificate from the Miyagikai Koto School. She began studying the Okoto (stringed musical instrument) at the age of 8. She married Ray Fields and moved to McMinnville., Oregon in 1990.
Miyoko Maeda is a Grand Master of the Somei Ongakukai Koto School. She has taught and played the Koto in Japan for more than 40 years, since 1956. During those years, she has performed in Prague (the Czech Republic), in Brisbane (Australia), and at Carnegie Hall in New York as a musical ambassador of friendship between Japan and these countries.
Monmouth Taiko performs traditional Japanese drumming music called Taiko. The group was started in 1995 by Koichi Ando, the Director of International Students in Western Oregon University, and Todd Wilson, a community member. As a performance group, Monmouth Taiko now reaches out to a wide audience; from the Roseburg and Grants Pass Obon festivals to the Madras "Collage of culture".
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