Japan Day 2016 / Arita 400

Applicant: The Kaetsu Centre
Award: £500
Field: Culture

Project: 

An annual Japan Day festival held at the Kaetsu Educational and Cultural Centre in Cambridge. In 2016, the festival took on the theme of Arita 400 - a celebration of 400 years of the famous porcelain industry in Arita, birthplace of Japanese ceramics, with hopes of inspiring visitors to learn more about Japanese pottery and ceramics.

Attendees were invited to take part in a wide range of Japanese cultural activities, like chado (tea ceremony), shodo (calligraphy) and suiboku-ga (painting), watch ikebana and Nihon Buyo (dancing) demonstrations, try a 'kimono experience' and view displays including a showcase of Arita ceramics.

The Japan Day festival has continued to be a succesful part of the Cambridge events calendar for over 10 years, offering visitors of all ages and backgrounds and local people from the East of England inspiration and insight into Japanese culture.