It's hard to believe that the busy spring season here at Japan House is going to wind up next month. Despite the peace found here at Japan House, there has still been a whirlwind of activity this semester! Our series of calligraphy workshops under the direction of Shozo Sato were a great success, as was our cooking class series held with Tamaki Levy. Both series were sold out with waiting lists. We were delighted to be responding to such strong interest!


We changed our tea ceremony schedule and are now pleased to offer tea ceremonies on the third Saturday of each month (due to demand) and will continue to offer that throughout the year (except for August).

We offered special experiences to our Tomonokai members, including a backstage visit to the Damine Children's kabuki group at Krannert Center, a free full dress rehearsal of Shozo Sato's final directorial (and sold out) performance of Kabuki MacBeth. We also invited all our Tomonokai members to a special Cherry Blossom Celebration in April, complete with a presentation on our cherry tree allée by Bill Kruidenier, Associate Director of the Arboretum, as well as a Spring Cherry Cocktail and a bento box of delicious Japanese food.
In between all that we found the time to honor events both small and large---from celebrating Setsubun (the first day of spring) with traditional activities----to the moving experience of paying tribute to the one year anniversary of the Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Throughout the semester we also welcomed classes to Japan House. ArtD 299: Japanese Aesthetics met twice weekly here at Japan House, studying a wide range of Japanese arts----calligraphy, tea, ikebana and Japanese cuisine. The Tea Study Group, more properly known as the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Urbana-Champaign Association continues to meet every week and the Prairie Ikebana Group meets for monthly workshops.

We do still have one more event coming up---our annual celebration of Children's Day! Storyteller Dan Keding will enchant children with stories from 1:30 to 2:00 and during the half hour before, and after, they will have a chance to take part in hands on Japanese craft activities, including ikebana (Japanese floral arranging), origami, and have their names written in calligraphy! Free and open to all. Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 1:00 to 2:30.