The original craft of Ame-zaiku dates back over 250 years ago to the Edo era where candy artists were the stars of the street corner entertainment and local folk festivals.

Today there are only 15 candy artists in Japan. Miyuki began her training in 1989 under grandfather, candy master Mr. Kinura, one of the most renowned candy artists in Japan. She is first and only woman to receive training in Japan.

When not traveling to conventions and festivals, Miyuki performs several times at day at the Japan Pavilion of Epcot Center at Walt Disney Resort in Orlando. She has also performed in throughout Japan, in Europ, and has appeared on the Travel Channel and The Rosie O’Donnell show.

This is the second time she will be the Japanese Fall Festival. Check out the amazing candy sculpture gallery on her website and come out to the Japanese Stroll Garden to watch her create original candy art. Miyuki will be performing at the festival all weekend, with periodic breaks.

See the full 2011 Japanese Fall Schedule here.

photo by the City of Springfield

Taiko means “big fat drum” and long ago in Japan, drums were beaten to boost the moral of armies and communicate between villages. Today taiko are played at festivals around the world. Some say the beat of the taiko drum echos the first thing we hear – our mother’s heartbeat.

St. Louis Osuwa Taiko energized festival crowds in the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, Springfield, MO at the 2009 Japanese Fall Festival with dramatic performances of Japanese drumming and creative choreography. Video by Russ RuBert.

Find more about the St. Louis Osuwa Taiko on their website which lists upcoming performances, classes, and a contact form to request a performance.

The annual Japanese Fall Festival is sponsored by the not-for-profit Springfield Sister Cities Association and the Springfield-Greene County Parkboard.

See the full 2011 Japanese Fall Schedule here.

The three-day festival runs from 5:30 – 10 p.m., Friday night; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Saturday; and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for kids 12 and younger; and toddlers two years of age and under are free.

This year’s highlights include:

• Opening ceremonies on Friday night with a children’s gathering comprised of hundreds of local Kindergarten-through-sixth grade elementary students, who were invited as ambassadors to represent their classes from every Springfield public elementary school;
• Professional sumo wrestlers, one of which is a world champion (www.sumobyamba.com);
• Traditional Japanese candy artist (www.candymiyuki.com);
• Taiko drumming group Osuwa Taiko, from St. Louis (www.stltaiko.com);
• Traditional Japanese top spinner Hiroshi Tada, from St. Louis;
• Local martial artists groups, including those with sword demonstrations; and
• Local musical group who will travel to Japan in 2011

The festival also hosts daily tea ceremonies in the lakeside tea house, nightly candlelight strolls through the garden, hands-on activities for children, presentations by local performers, authentic Japanese food and regional artisans and merchants. A large tent top market features Japanese souvenirs and apparel for sale, with all proceeds benefiting SSCA and the Japanese Garden.

This year’s performance schedule will be available online here Sept. 1. For more information, media contact: Cindy Jobe, Festival Coordinator, 417-891-1191.

download 16th Japanese Fall Festival flyer – letter size here

download 16th Japanese Fall Festival 12″x18″ poster here

Note to artists and vendors: It is the goal of SSCA to keep this event as authentic as possible.

We ask that you give us as many details as you can about the products in your booth. Images would be appreciated.

The SSCA Isesaki Committee will review applications and eliminate those that

1) are not authentic to Japanese culture and tradition.

2) are not authentic to gardening / landscape practices.

3) are in direct competition with items SSCA has available in the souvenir tent.

Space is limited. If you meet our qualifications as a vendor, we suggest you get your space reserved now! Deadline for assignment of booth space is August 5th, 2011.

Click here to download the Japanese Fall Festival Vendor Booth Application here and submit to SSCA at 1923 N. Weller, Springfield, MO, 65803 or email questions to the SSCA coordinator here.

Artist Russ RuBert was there to capture some of the moments in photographs, moments of love, friendship, sharing, watching, discovering, and meditating. Click on thumbnail below to see larger images.

The attendance at this Festival was approximately 9,000 people in 2009. Don’t miss your chance to participate in 2010!

Note to artists and vendors:  It is the goal of SSCA to keep this event as authentic as possible.

We ask that you give us as many details as you can about the products in your booth. Images would be appreciated.

The SSCA Isesaki Committee will review applications, looking for applications that are

1. authentic to Japanese culture and tradition or tied to current trends in Japan
2. are authentic to gardening / landscape practices.
3. are not in direct competition with items SSCA has available in the souvenir tent.

Space is limited. If you meet our qualifications as a vendor, we suggest you get your space reserved now!
Deadline for assignment of booth space is August 10th, 2010.

Click here to download a vendor booth application form

or email SSCA to schedule an artist performance.

We will be honored with the performances by our delegation from our sister city of Isesaki, Japan. Their group will lead authentic tea ceremonies, play koto (Japanese style harp), demonstrate flower arranging, and have a kimono fashion show. The performing delegations sent by the City of Isesaki are always the highlight to our event, and SSCA would like to thank them for their efforts.

We will also have a professional story teller, performing stories for children while wearing costumes and doing magic. Kuniko is coming all the way from Orlando, Florida, so don’t miss her on stage!

Yes, the Osuwa Taiko Drum Group from St. Louis will be performing again. Taiko drums are truly amazing. Your whole body beats with the rhythm of these giant drums. Other highlights and performances will include a top spinner from St. Louis, local artists, souvenirs, a children’s activity area, demonstrations and exhibits.

Each evening ends with a beautiful candlelight and torch walk. This is the only time of the year you can see this beautiful garden at night.

Volunteers are needed! We need your help staffing the event or hosting the visitors from Isesaki in your home. Performers related to Japanese traditional culture, pop culture, or history are needed!

If you are interested in getting involved, please call Cindy Jobe @ 864-1341 or send an email

SSCA would like to thank the Springfield-Greene County Park Board for their support and partnership for this event. It takes SSCA and Parks to make this work for our community!

click here to download the 2010 Japanese Fall Festival poster

The relationship between Isesaki and Springfield is now approaching 24 years and in that time we have had a very cordial and exciting exchanges. It has now been three years since an official delegation from Springfield has visited Isesaki, and the committee feels that we need to make a personal effort to nurture this relationship.

Isesaki now has a new Mayor and unfortunately no personal visits were made last year due to the ?Swine Flu scare. For this reason, the Isesaki Committee has budgeted to send a small delegation to Japan to show their new city leadership that this relationship is very important to us.

Cherry Blossom Kite Festival

The committee is also recommending that we expand the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival this year in two ways. First, the committee and board have agreed to have a rain date. This will require an additional commitment on the part of volunteers, but not the budget. Secondly, we are going to invite all other entities that exist in the Nathanael Greene Park to have a presence during the Festival. These include the Master Gardeners, The Friends of the Garden, The Botanical Society, Ozark Greenways and the Gray Campbell Farmstead.

Japanese Fall Festival Performers

As we know, all other events with Isesaki were canceled this past year, except for the Japanese Fall Festival. We decided to continue with the festival and provide performers from the United States. We were fortunate to obtain two women who perform in Florida at Epcot Center. Kuniko Yamamoto, the story teller performed on the stage and in schools throughout the district, for which she was reimbursed by the schools.

Miyuki Sugimori, the candy lady, performed in the park and was able to sell her creations to observers. Therefore, both performers were able to augment the fee we paid them. We were able to hire them for far below their normal fees and yet they have informed us they would like to come back next year. We also hired the Taiko Drummers from St. Louis, who were excellent, and negotiated a lower fee than they usually command. In addition, a top spinner came from St. Louis on Sunday and performed for reimbursement of gas and lunch.

Japanese Fall Festival Children’s Parade

The festival began with the traditional parade of school children on Friday evening. Approximately 250 Springfield Public School children participated. The childrens’ area was also well attended and Carrol Lund took charge of this activity. A challenge for the future will be to find a replacement of Carrol, as she will retire soon and will no longer continue with the Sister City activity she has developed over the years.

Japanese Fall Festival Revenue Generators

SSCA always relies on the souvenir tent to be both a source of entertainment at the event, but to also be a revenue generator for us. Purchasing the items for the tent was another one of the many things that was affected by the H1N1 virus, so we would like to thank Isesaki for stepping in and helping us this year. We look forward to purchasing the items ourselves for 2010.

The Tea Ceremony was somewhat limited because we did not have our Isesaki friends to assist. We held the ceremony on Saturday and Sunday and Yuiko Mizumoto Scott performed the ceremony each time. She had the help of one individual, but we would like to offer this popular event to more people. To do this, we need to find individuals who are qualified to perform the ceremony. Do you want to help?

The Festival was attended by more than 9,000 people and broke a record for gate revenue. The entire festival required approximately 180 volunteers. Many of them volunteered the entire three days. The weather certainly contributed to a very successful event.

2009 Japanese Fall Festival Revenue & Expenses

Gate Revenue: $24,177
Tent Revenue: $8,942 Expense: $425.78
Performers Revenue: N/A Expense: $6,950
Park Board Donation Expense: $13,873
Proceeds for Future Programming: $9,800

As a committee, we are very happy with the results of this year and feel that we have greatly contributed to the financial stability of our organization. Our wrap-up meetings have resulted in the following recommendations for next year’s festival, which require the support and participation of the board.

Recommendations for 2010

Have a buying trip to purchase merchandise for the souvenir tent and ask vendors at the festival to sign a non-compete agreement. Have Sister Cities table prominently located at all events to publicize events and who we are. Assist in obtaining sponsors to bring in additional performers. Locate an individual to carry on with the children’s area. The committee is reviewing many other improvements, such as a more attractive program, better signage and maps of the park and various other improvements to make the festival run smoothly and be even more profitable. Many of these will also require additional expenditures.

The committee has also endorsed the Missouri State University initiative for a student exchange, including both of our sister cities. Discussion is ongoing.

]]> http://peacethroughpeople.org/2010/04/isesaki-report-and-japanese-fall-festival-wrap-up/feed/ 0 http://peacethroughpeople.org/2010/02/japanese-fall-festival-2009-making-lemonade-turns-festival-into-successful-event/ http://peacethroughpeople.org/2010/02/japanese-fall-festival-2009-making-lemonade-turns-festival-into-successful-event/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:35:15 +0000 pam http://peacethroughpeople.org/?p=81 by Cindy Jobe, Sister Cities coordinator.

Remember the news headlines in April and May of last year? The stories about the H1N1 virus seemed to be non-stop. Unfortunately for that virus, and the same heightened fear, made its way to Japan and our sister city of Isesaki.

Several visits were scheduled for 2009, including a men’s softball exchange and a high school student delegation visit, as well as our won JRB Band traveling to Isesaki to perform at their summer Festival. However, the H1N1 virus put a stop to everything. The national government of Japan issued travel warnings. And of course, when the national government issues warnings, the local city governments must oblige.

The result? Isesaki canceled all schedule visits to and from Springfield, This is the first time in out 24-year relationship we have been faced with such a challenge. The student exchange alone has gone uninterrupted for 21 consecutive years. And this was the first time in the history of our Japanese Fall Festival that they did not send a performing delegation to be our headliner.

WOW!

So, we rely on the old adage that if you are given lemons, the best thing you can do is make lemonade. The Iseaski Committee voted to use the funds that we had dedicated to hosting our delegations (taking them to events, sightseeing, gifts, sayonara party, transportation) and applying it to recruiting special entertainment for our 14th Annual Fall Festival. We were confident we could make this one the best events ever.

We hired two performed from Orlando, Florida’s Disney Epcot Center. First was Kuniko Yamamoto, an amazing traditional Japanese storyteller. To use the words “storyteller” doesn’t begin to describe what she does. Imagine Mask, costumes and illusions along with stories that keep children on the edge of their seats.

We also had Candy Miyuki, the “Candy Lady!” Folks, we are talking about first class entertainment, a true artist. She has appeared on national television shows like “Rosie O’Donnell.” Right before your eyes, she turns a small lump of taffy into a beautiful swan, or dragon, or just about anything elese you can imagine. She even did candy “portraits.”

We also the wonderful, heart-pounding Osuwa Taiko group from St. Louis. They are always a big draw, and they keep the crowd so entertained with their drum beating a acrobatics.

We were thrilled this year to have top-spinner from St. Louis, the local JRB Band, locak artists and musicians, tea ceremony, Bon Odori dance, martial arts, koto, and so much more. The children’s hands-on area hosted by local high school kids is an important part of our event each year. The souvenir tent is such a hit, and a nice fund-raiser for SSCa.

This year we added a few seminars, where folks could learn about things like traditional Japanese indigo tie-dying, ikebana (flower arranging), and bonsai. We hope to grown this area next year to include even more learning opportunities.

A special thanks to the hundreds of children who participated in our opening night parade. Wow! It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The kids danced their way to the stage, wearing headbands, led by Hiromi and her friends. Parents, grandparents, and friends lined the walkways as they entered.

Please remember — SSCA shares the gate revenue with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, to help further develop the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden. We could no do this event if not for the efforts of the Park Staff. They continue to be our biggest supporters.

Mark your calendar for September 10-12 of this year for the 15th Annual Japanese Fall Festival. We need volunteers for the event, and host families for our visiting performers.

Thanks to the many who donated their efforts to make this last festival a success. It requires much time and skill, and we count on all of you to make it work!