The Mississippi Consortium for International Development, Jackson, Mississippi
Japan Festival in Mississippi
Project Director: Daiki Suematsu
$4,613.71
To support rare hands-on experiences at a Japan festival in Jackson Mississippi, led by JOI Coordinator Daiki Suematsu. This event will feature performers of a range of traditional Japanese arts, such as iaido, taiko, kendama, kendo, and cosplay. Booths set up at the festival include uchiwa making, bookmark making, yukata wearing, yo-yo scooping, traditional toys, as well as tastes of Japanese tea and snacks.
Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, South Carolina
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams special exhibition
Project Director: Kristen Pace
$5,000
To support shipping costs for Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams, a traveling exhibition, which includes 50 photos by Western landscape photographer Ansel Adams of the Manzanar Relocation Center between 1943 and 1944.
Valley Medical Center Foundation, San Jose, California
Silicon Valley Down Syndrome Network Taiko Workshops
Project Director: Naoko Fujii
$5,000
To create a program to teach taiko to students with Down Syndrome that will enhance therapeutic neurologic, cognitive and socialization benefits of learning drumming, perform at local Japanese festivals, and to expand this curriculum. By adapting methods for taiko classes designed for seniors, Silicon Valley Down Syndrome Network will create a taiko program suited for these students that both introduces Japanese culture and is therapeutic.
Minnesota Kyudo Renmei, Northfield, Minnesota
Bringing Traditional Japanese Practice into Modern Life
Project Director: Carly Born
$5,000
To host Ogasawara Kiyomoto Sensei of the Ogasawara-ryū School of Etiquette, Archery and Horsemanship who will give public lectures on etiquette and archery both online and in person, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) and Carleton College. Online topics include Ogasawara art of knot-tying and the fundamentals of efficient body movements. He will conduct a kyudo seminar for Carleton College students in the course Samurai: The Ethics of Death and Loyalty, as well as visit the Japanese Language classes and attend dinner with Carleton Asian Studies faculty. Ogasawara Sensei will train with kyudo practitioners with the Minnesota Kyudo Renmei and the American Kyudo Renmei.
Write Out Loud, San Diego, California
World Kamishibai Forum – 2022
Project Director: Donna Tamaki
$5,000
To produce World Kamishibai Forum 2022, building on the successful CGP-supported 2021 forum by focusing on ten topics of common interest among the previous years’ participants. Whereas the 2021 forum introduced kamishibai around the world, the 2022 forum aims to help participants polish their artistic skills and storytelling techniques. There will be a total of 10 workshops featuring 17 presenters from Japan, US, India, Australia, France, UK, Slovenia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Topics include self-publishing, STEAM, young learners, and second-language learning.
Japan-America Society of Tennessee, Nashville, TN
2022 Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival
Project Director: Ginger Byrn
$4,000
To support the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival, the largest free, public outdoor festival of its kind in the Southeast U.S., by bringing taiko performers and Japanese candy artisans for guests to learn about traditional and contemporary Japanese arts.
Lexington Sister Cities, Lexington, KY
Culture and Cuisine Night, Featuring Japan!
Project Director: Taylor Gilkison
$4,758.83
To support a Japanese Culture and Cuisine event for the local students, teachers, and community members to provide opportunities to learn about their sister city in Japan as well as cultivate interest in Japanese culture through origami and calligraphy workshops, Taiko performances and Ikebana demonstrations as well as interactional presentations of Japanese cuisine to learn about food, table manners, and different styles of cooking.
Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation, Hot Springs, AR
Arkansas Cherry Blossom Festival 2022
Project Director: Michelle Roberts
$4,674.00
To build upon last year’s successful festival, the only seasonal Japanese festival in Arkansas, by attracting more attendees from all over the state. The festival will “sow” many seeds of interest in Japan and Japanese culture among attendees who have limited exposure and opportunities to learn about Japan through interactive cultural demonstrations and workshops such as Bonsai, Ikebana, Zen Garden, Japanese history, Kimono, Taiko performance, Bon odori, Japanese martial arts, and so forth.
Japanese Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL
Tsukimi/Moon Viewing Event
Project Director: Saira Chambers
$4,498.45
To support the Tsukimi, Moon Viewing Event that will be held in the historic Garden of Phoenix located in Chicago’s Jackson Park. This event will be free and open to the public, limited to less than 100 guests and will include performances such as taiko, tea ceremony, shamisen, etc. Along with these performances will be lectures by experts to discuss concepts used in Japanese art and music and to provide insights to engage guests’ interest in Japanese culture.