Japan Festival 2017

Applicant: Bath - Beppu Friendship Association
Award: £500
Field: Culture

Project:

In June 2017,  Bath – Beppu Friendship Association, with the support of the mayors of both cities, organised a one day Japan Festival providing local people in the area of Bath with the opportunity to engage in a wide range of family friendly Japanese art and culture activities including calligraphy, haiku, origami, games and crafts, as well as martial arts, Bon Odori and Taiko performances.

In the lead up to the festival the group set up the 'Emakimono scroll project' in order to act as a bridge for an arts and cultural exchange between Japan and England. Prior to the festival, Primary and Secondary school children in Beppu were asked to draw images and write about aspects of their city and culture onto scrolls which would be put on display at the festival. Visitors to the festival were then asked to do the same about Bath. The scrolls were then linked together and shared between the two cities.