Picnic brings Japan to MSU

by Amanda Peterka

Japan came to the Michigan State University campus when the third annual Japanese Garden Picnic allowed visitors to sample authentic food,  as well as martial arts and musical performances.  The Asian Studies Center sponsored the event to kick off Japan Week festivities.  Open to the public, the picnic attracted more than one hundred people of all different nationalities and ages. 

The Asian Studies Center provided food and drink -- a variety of sushi rolls with packaged soy sauce and assorted melons, as well as apple cider, tea and water.  Unfortunately, the crowd must have been larger than anticipated because the food tables were wiped clear within the first half hour and many people still appeared to be hungry.  As Michael Lewis, the Director of the Asian Studies Center, warned in his opening remarks to kick off the event, “The sushi goes fast.”

The Clarence Lewis Arboretum was chosen as the venue because of its Japanese gardens.  However, the gardens are located by a railroad track and a train roared through during the first performance. Other than that interruption and the occasional low rumbling of thunder, the day was calm and “heaven-sent,” according to Marilyn McCullough, the Assistant Director of the Asian Studies Center.

The first performers, Miyabi, from Ann Arbor, specialized in Japanese music played on traditional instruments:  the Koto and the Shakuhachi.  The crowd seemed a little distracted during their performance, talking loudly in the back of the large tent.  The performers were visibly disgruntled, but by the end of their five-set performance, the audience had settled in.

The martial arts portion of the presentation featured the United States Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu Michigan Dojo, under the instruction of Michael Alexanian, who brandished traditional katana in a display of Japanese swordsmanship.  Clearly a crowd-pleaser, the four men first demonstrated the eight styles of cutting down an opponent and then showed how to react to different threatening situations.  Alexanian described the performance as portraying contrasting elements, such as light and soft, light and dark, and strong and weak.  According to him, there is “always tension between two sides, but always harmony arising out of the two.”

The final event, Raion Taiko, offered a sample of traditional drumming in the Japanese culture.  The group was headed by Brian Sole, but he credited his wife as the “driving force behind the group” that included students from area high schools and MSU alumni.  The drummers were easily identifiable in black shirts with bright green Japanese characters that, when translated, mean “lion” and “thunder.”  The group played different types of drums, a flute called a shakuhachi and a gong.  Although the audience had thinned by then, it seemed to captivate the crowd, especially the young children.

Between performances, the children flocked to the arts and crafts tent while others mingled in groups.  The art included origami, daruma dolls, coloring books and calligraphy, and all was hands-on.  Many people walked away from the picnic with brightly-colored souvenirs.

Other Japanese Week events include a showing of the Japanese film The Castle of Cagliostro on Monday and a lecture by Karl Friday of the University of Georgia on Wednesday.