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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2016)
January 18, 2016 Community / A.C.E. THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 11 Mochitsuki celebrates its 20th- anniversary event January 31st Mochitsuki — the Japanese New Year celebration — is returning to Portland State University in downtown Portland for its 20th anniversary event. The celebration takes place Sunday, January 31. Mochi is a sticky rice cake that symbolizes starting the New Year with a full belly in hopes of abundance in the year ahead. In the Asian zodiac, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. Visitors to Mochitsuki 2016 will see steamed rice pounded into mochi with huge mallets and taste samples made from the humming electric machines popular in Japan today. The celebration includes a wide array of performances, and again this year, the entertainment stage is emceed by storyteller Alton Chung. Performers and musical guests include the Minidoka Swing Band, Portland Taiko, Utsuki Kai, Takohachi Taiko, Oregon Koto Kai, Sahomi Tachibana Dancers, Unit Souzou, Mitch Iimori on shamisen, Larry Tyrrell on shakuhachi, and others. Cultural experiences abound at Mochitsuki, including a traditional tea ceremony, a food court, calligraphy, origami, ikebana, Fukuwarai (a Japanese New Year’s game), go (Japanese chess), children’s bento cooking classes, and much more. The 20th-anniversary edition of Mochitsuki is presented by the Portland Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and co-produced by Konko Church of Portland, the Oregon Nikkei Endowment, and Portland Taiko. Mochitsuki 2016 takes place Sunday, January 31 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at Portland State Univer- sity’s Smith Memorial Student Union, located at 1825 S.W. Broadway in Portland. Tickets purchased in advance are Aɸɗ Sɭhoɼɗ Oȼʑɚ Hʝuȿɏ Saturday, January 30th 10am—1pm 2 1/2 years—6th grade Check out our website for more informaƟon. www.portlandmontessori.org 205 NE 50th Ave. 503-688-2992 info@portlandmontessori.org C o m pre he nsive Educ a tio n fo r To m o rro w’s G lo b a l C itize ns O pe n Ho use : Ja n 28, 6- 8pm IB C urric ulum Info Nig ht: Fe b 25, 6- 7:30pm p e rso na l to urs a lso a va ila b le • La ng ua g e Imme rsio n in Sp a nish, Ja p a ne se , o r C hine se • Inq uiry-b a se d , Inte rna tio na l Ba c c a la ure a te PYP Wo rld Sc ho o l • Sma ll c la sse s; e xp e rie nc e d te a c he rs Pre K-5th intlsc ho o l.o rg 503-226-2496 TWO DELECTABLE DECADES. Mochitsuki — the Japanese New Year celebration — is returning to Portland State University for its 20th anniversary event. The celebration, which features food, art, performances, demonstrations, and hands-on cultural experiences for all ages, takes place Sunday, January 31. (AR Photos/Jan Landis) $10 for adults; $7 for students with identification and seniors age 62 and older; and $4 for children four to 12 years old. Children three years of age and younger are admitted for free. Tickets bought on the day of the event are $12 for adults; $9 for students and seniors; and $5 for children. To learn more, or to volunteer, call (503) 224-1458 or visit <www. mochipdx.org>. To buy tickets, visit <www.boxofficetickets.com>. WANT TO KNOW WHAT EVENTS ARE HAPPENING THIS MONTH? Check out our Community and A.C.E. calendar sections, on pages 10 and 12. Record-breaking Star Wars movie opens in China By Louise Watt The Associated Press EIJING — The record- breaking Star Wars film opened earlier this month in China, where it is far from certain to draw enough moviegoers to knock off Avatar as the world’s all-time biggest grossing movie. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the highest ever grossing film in the North American market, where it was released December 18. But internationally, it still has a long way to go to beat Avatar, James Cameron’s science-fiction movie with blue aliens. The international box office of the latest Star Wars movie stands at $1.86 billion, compared to the $2.8 billion Avatar made in 2009. Richard Huang, an analyst at Nomura Securities, expects the movie to roughly match the $229 million in Chinese box-office sales that Jurassic World generated last year. Not many Chinese are familiar with Star Wars. The franchise’s three prequel films released from 1999 to 2005 were shown in China, but at a time when there were much fewer screens in the country. Promotional events organized by Disney in the months leading up to B 6 1 4 7 3 4 4 5 9 4 8 7 5 7 STORMING THE EAST. A man takes a smartphone photo of his son at a Star Wars promo- tional display at a shopping mall in Beijing. The record-breaking Star Wars film opened this month in China, where it is far from certain to draw enough moviegoers to knock off Avatar as the world’s all-time biggest grossing movie. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) the release included the placing of 500 Stormtrooper figures on the steps of the Great Wall and the illumination of the movie’s Chinese title on the guard towers for a light show in October. It enlisted the marketing power of actor and singer Lu Han, who appeared in promotional videos and released a music video called “The Inner Force” with images from the film. In an overt bid to appeal to Chinese audiences in the next Star Wars film, Rogue One, bosses have cast Hong Kong martial-arts actor Donnie Yen and Chinese actor and director Jiang Wen in it. China is expected to surpass North America as the world’s largest movie market as soon as next year, and Hollywood is casting Chinese actors and incorporating Chinese elements to appeal to the massive audience. 1 9 Difficulty MEDIUM 1 6 7 3 1 4 8 1 6 5 3 level: Medium #64531 # 14 Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1 through 9 appear one time each in every row, col- umn, and 3x3 box. Solution to last week’s puzzle Puzzle #79243 (Easy) All solutions available at <www.sudoku.com>. 6 2 9 8 1 4 3 5 7 1 3 4 5 9 7 2 8 6 7 5 8 6 3 2 4 1 9 9 1 3 4 7 8 5 6 2 2 8 7 1 6 5 9 4 3 4 6 5 9 2 3 1 7 8 3 7 6 2 4 1 8 9 5 8 4 2 7 5 9 6 3 1 5 9 1 3 8 6 7 2 4