Japan Matsuri 2009 surpassed our wildest dreams. We anticipated that the maximum number of festival-goers would be around 15,000. In fact, we had more than twice this number, all of whom enjoyed the delicious food and wonderful entertainment throughout the day. One restaurant stall alone made 2,700 skewers of yakitori – another served 1,100 meals in 5 hours!

Our kind friends at Don Productions have made a video of the event. It brilliantly captures something of the atmosphere and range of activities represented at the Matsuri, but compressing 10 hours into less than five minutes only really scratches the surface!

Do take a look at John Sturrock’s wonderful matsuri photos too (including also a few from other people!)

and at the comments and photographs linked to the Japan Matsuri website and facebook page. There are also quite a few videos on YouTube – see the links on the website.

Japan Matsuri 2009 was co-organized with the Japanese Residents’ Association in association with the Embassy of Japan, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the UK, Nippon Club, Spitalfields and generously supported by many companies, volunteers and participants.