Japan Day is a day long free festival held every two years since 2006, in Manchester and Liverpool celebrating Japanese culture, both traditional and modern. This year it is the turn of Liverpool to host this increasingly popular festival that attracted over 2,200 people when it was last held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
Japan Day is a great introduction to this fascinating country, and with free admission attracts large numbers of new audiences to the delights of Japanese culture. This year, there will be displays and demonstrations of Japanese crafts and activities including Ikebana, Embroidery, Doll-making, Kimono-dressing, and Shodo (the art of Japanese calligraphy) and for those of you who are looking for something more active; martial arts, Koto and Shamisen playing, as well as a chance to dress up in your favourite anime character to enter a ‘Cosplay’ competition. There will also be a number of stalls featuring the amazing variety of Japanese-culture societies in North West England including the Japanese Railway Society, Wirral Bonsai Society and the Northern To-ken Society. You will be able to buy Japanese goods and delicous Japanese food and, on the day, don’t forget to buy your raffle tickets! This year, if you are lucky enough to win the top prize, you’ll be receiving two return tickets to Japan via Finnair.
Check the Japan Day website for details on what’s going on in Liverpool on 1 June, and also Japan Society North West’s website for Japan related activity in your area, all the year round.