Follow the rhythm of a Japanese beat
Pop music was this year's theme at Japan Night,
which featured traditional food, live music and dancing
BY AIBING GUO
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
More than 500 guests from the
University and local communities
crowded into the EMU Ballroom Sat
urday evening to celebrate annual
Japan Night, with Japanese pop mu
sic, an art show, traditional cuisine
and a haunted house.
The Japanese Student Organiza
tion orchestrated the event, setting
this year’s theme as Japanese pop
music and showcasing a series
of stage shows and a review of
Japanese music history.
A traditional dance and drum per
formance by a group of Japanese
students from the University and
Lane Community College kicked off
the night at 7 p.m. and soon put the
audience in the mood for a touch of
Oriental culture.
A documentary featuring Japanese
pop music history was projected to the
big screen on the central stage, with
performers dressing, singing and danc
ing according to the era. The video
covered music from the 1960s to pres
ent. Audience members who were fa
miliar with Japanese pop music sang
along, while others waved their hands
following the rhythm.
“It is totally amazing; I have never
seen anything like this before,” senior
Kit Myers said. He said the experience
has encouraged him to explore more
Japanese culture in the future.
Kristen Reed, president of the Japan
ese Student Organization, said she was
happy that people enjoyed the event.
“We started to prepare for this stage
show since last November, so we
do have a lot of time to practice and
polish our performance,’’she said.
Though it is called Japan Night,
Kristen said it was more like an inter
national night.
“More than half of our 150 volun
teers are from outside Japan, like Unit
ed States, Europe, Korea, China and
lots of other countries,” Reed said,
adding that everyone contributed a lot
to the event. “I think they are also
enjoying to be part of this cultural
exchange program. ”
Besides the stage show, Reed said
there was also something special on
the food menu this year.
“We prepared traditional Japanese
food for both vegetarian and non-vege
tarian this year, and I believe that
should please everybody no matter
what their tastes are,” she said.
Dorothy Emach, who taught English
in Japan from 1994 to 1997,
said she was very satisfied with the
variety of the food.
“The vegetarian food is very great; I
really appreciate their thoughtful
arrangement,” she said.
Emach said her favorite part of the
event was the stage show.
“I’m really impressed, I definitely
will be back again next year,” she said.
Her 10-year-old son, Sebastian
Mitchell was dressed in a traditional
Japanese Samurai suit.
“The gun-shooting game is my fa
vorite,” he said. “I’m just inches away
from the top prize.”
In the shooting game, participants
used guns made of wooden chopsticks
to shoot at targets.
“Of course, the ghost house, that’s
my second favorite,” Sebastian added.
He said all kinds of ghosts jumped in
and out of the aisle inside the haunted
house screaming.
“It’s a little scary, but it’s really a lot
of fun,” he said.
Rihito Okonogi, a coordinator of the
haunted house, said the group got
the idea from a traditional Japanese
ghost festival that happens around Au
gust every year. In Japan, it is believed
that during the ghost festival, the dead
will return to the houses they once
lived in.
Fifteen volunteers helped decorate
the haunted house and made nearly all
the scenes inside the house.
Their efforts paid off. Nearly half an
hour after the end of the stage show,
people were still lining up for a visit to
the haunted house.
“It’s a great reward to us that people
just like it,” Okonogi said.
People came to the event for
different reasons.
Elisabeth Vieller, who preferred to
be called by her art name Obermayer,
said she didn’t just come to enjoy a
cultural show.
“I’m trying to find a Japanese lan
guage mentor here,” she said. She said
she visited Japan for more than six
months during each of the past eight
years to learn pottery-making and
Japanese painting.
"Eugene has only one Japanese lan
guage school, and the courses are pret
ty basic,” she said. “So I’m really look
ing forward to reaching out and
finding a native Japanese speaker who
is interested in teaching me Japanese.”
Her husband, Thomas Keller, a local
electric technician, said all his friends
encouraged him to pay a visit to Japan,
but his busy work schedule kept
putting the visit off.
“My 2-year-old daughter is luckier
than me; she had been there for three
months with her mother,” Keller said.
1
I
Nicole Barker | Photographer
The Eisahs, a combination of University and Lane Community College students,
performed traditional dance and percussion Saturday at Japan Night, an annual event
hosted by the Japanese Student Organization.
FAST FACTS: JAPAN
Location: Eastern Asia,
island chain between the
North Pacific Ocean and the
Sea of Japan, east of the Ko
rean Peninsula
Area: 377,835 sq km (slightly
smaller than California)
Population: 127,333,002
(July 2004)
Capital: Tokyo
Government Constitutional
monarchy with a
parliamentary government
Main ethnic groups:
Japanese (99 percent),
others 1 percent
Main religion: Observe both
Shinto and Buddhist (84
percent), others 16 percent
Agricultural products: Rice,
sugar beets, vegetables, fruit,
pork, poultry, dairy products,
eggs and fish
Source: www.cia.gov
MANIC
Monday
I4' 1 topping Pizza
and 2 24 oz. drinks
£Z£t20
824 Charnelton
Eugene, OR • 97401
686-5808
Exp. 1/31/05
Sun-Wed Ham - lam
Thurs-Sat llam-2am