Hundreds of people dressed in colorful wigs, kimonos and schoolgirl uniforms gathered at Phoenix’s Heritage and Science Park this weekend to celebrate Japanese culture.
The 27th annual Arizona Matsuri, which took place Saturday and Sunday, featured both modern and traditional Japanese food, art and music.
Several performances throughout the park showcased Japanese fencing, karaoke and a kimono fashion show.
ASU’s Asian Pacific American Studies program took advantage of this festival as a way to promote a new major and minor now offered to students.
Kathy Nakagawa, head of faculty for APA Studies, said an APA certificate has been available to students for 12 years, but last fall marked the first semester the program officially started offering a major and minor.
“We’ve been working on getting this major available for 10 years now, and finally, through a lot of support from the community, we are able to offer a major in APA,” she said.
With Asian Americans being the second-fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, Nakagawa said a major in Asian Pacific American studies is important so students can get a better understanding of the diversity in the community.
She said knowledge of these communities will help students in career fields like law, health and social sciences. Students can use the major as a steppingstone to law or graduate school.
Nakagawa said the program is still in the process of recruiting students.
Romeo Mabansag, a secondary English education sophomore, who was volunteering at the APA booth at the Japanese festival, said he has taken a few APA classes and plans to take more. He said they are eye-opening, especially as they relate to his personal ancestral culture.
“No one else offers this kind of information about the APA community, and it’s something that I’m really interested in,” he said.
As a recipient of the Y.F. Wu Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Scholarship, Mabansag volunteers at several APA events in the area but believes that none compare to the scale of the Arizona Matsuri.
Though the scholarship does not require Mabansag to volunteer, he does it because he believes in supporting the community.
“I volunteer as much as possible,” he said. “It comes second only to my studies.”
Though many aspects of Japanese culture were celebrated at the festival, one of the biggest draws was the celebration of anime culture.
Many students, like art exploratory junior JJ Carwell, came dressed as characters from their favorite comics.
Carwell, who was dressed as a Western-style samurai, said that he’s been interested in Japanese culture and anime ever since he was a child.
“I had a karate instructor that always told me interesting anecdotes about Japan, and it really sparked my interest in the culture,” he said.
This was Carwell’s third visit to the Arizona Matsuri, and though there are other events in the Valley that celebrate anime, such as Phoenix Comicon and various anime conventions, he believes the Arizona Matsuri is the best when it comes to celebrating Japanese culture as a whole.
Reach the reporter at danielle.legler@asu.edu
