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Connect to the Denver area's Asian community with AsiaXpress!
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19
June, 2001
CELEBRATING
JAPANESE CULTURE
... AND ASIAN CULTURE
We're getting ready for Denver's 21st annual
Sakura Matsuri, or Cherry Blossom Festival, on June 30 and July 1. Tonight,
we're going to the first of several nights of practice for obon, the street
dance that caps the Saturday night of the festival - I've never participated
in the obon, and I'm a very unschooled dancer, so I'm a bit nervous
| She and her friends sit transfixed in the front row as the taiko drumming calls the festival to order. |
The festival is the Japanese community's annual opportunity to connect with the rest of Denver, but it's also one of the key events that nurtures the Japanese community itself. It's an annual way to stay in touch, see local artisans and share Japanese food (mostly made by volunteers in the Denver Buddhist Temple). For the many groups that perform during the festival, from the popular drumming of Denver Taiko to the more esoteric poetry singing of Shigin, it's the way they show off to the rest of the community what they've been learning, or to keep alive traditions that might otherwise be forgotten.
Over the years, taiko drumming has become one of the major attractions of the Cherry Blossom Festival (aside from the food and arts and crafts). The Denver Buddhist Temple's Denver Taiko group (and its student component, Junior Taiko) have become mainstays of the event with other groups visiting, and taiko has become the sound that both opens and closes each day's performances. In the past few years, I've come to know a group of regular fans who show up for the taiko concerts as their introduction to Japanese culture. A woman came up to me one year to ask what that wonderful rhythmic pounding was, and then sat for the full day's performances. She has shown up ever since, and she and her friends sit transfixed in the front row as the drumming calls the festival to order.
From my perspective on the stage, I've always been pleased and sometimes surprised at the mix of audiences.
There are of course many Japanese faces, of all ages from the very young to seniors. But the faces of all of Denver are also present - Caucasians, African Americans, Latinos, and also some other Asians.
But not a lot of other Asians.
That's one thing I am committed to working on - the interaction of Asian communities. Over the years I've attended meetings and events by many organizations, including a couple of "umbrella" groups, such as the Colorado Asian Roundtable and the Aurora Asian Pacific Community Partnership, that represent the interests of various Asian organizations. I have learned that every community has a voice and an identity that is as active and important as the Japan America Society of Colorado, the Japanese Association, the Japanese Firms Association and the Japanese American Citizens League are to the Japanese people of this area. There are groups that represent the Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Hmong, Filipino - but here are few opportunities for each of these discrete groups to intersect with each other.
That is changing as more and more opportunities for bridging our cultures are presented. There have also been recent pan-Asian events including an APA Community Summit sponsored by the Governor's Asian Pacific American Advisory Council, and the recent Aurora Asian Film Festival (now in its fourth year). The Web site AsiaXpress (http://asiaxpress.com) is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in all of Denver's many Asian communities, because Tod and Vie Nguyen, the couple who operate the site, and their staff cover every event and have extensive listings for every community. They are on the forefront of a pan-Asian movement, because they are open to every culture and see the power in bridging all Asian communities.
One of the events you'll find on AsiaXpress.com is advance information for the Dragon Boat Festival 2001. The event, planned for August 19th at Sloan Lake, promises to become the major public pan-Asian event in the region, showing off the solidarity and variety of Denver's Asian constituency both to other Asians and to the public at large. The event will be anchored by a series of races featuring volunteer teams of 20 people rowing beautiful traditional 40-foot dragon boats during the day, until a champion team is left. The event will also feature an Asian Marketplace, a colorful bazaar with vendors from all Asian communities, and an entertainment stage (I'll be an emcee there as well) showing off the many colorful cultures of Asia.
I'm excited to be at this year's Sakura Matsuri, and to celebrate the local Japanese and Japanese American presence. Each culture needs to celebrate itself to continue its traditions, inspire its young people and to reach out to a wider audience.
But mark my words - as the years go by and the world shrinks with the increasing globalization of business and communications, it will become more and more important to understand other cultures and to interact with other people. Now is the time to begin celebrating the larger Asian community in addition to our own culture and traditions. I plan on seeking out the events that celebrate other Asian cultures, and I hope other Asians will visit the Sakura Matsuri and get a taste of our culture.
See you at Sakura Square -- just don't laugh too hard at me during the Obon Dance!
NOTE: The Sakura Matsuri, or Cherry Blossom Festival, runs from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, June 30 and July 1, with the Obon Dance Festival taking place from 7:45-9:15 pm on Saturday, June 30. The festival takes place at Sakura Square, 19th and Lawrence, and the block of Lawrence between 19th and 20th Streets will be closed off for vendor booths and the entertainment stage. All events are free and open to the public. Wear a hat and bring sunblock.