Lincoln (Neb.) - Sept. 24, 1997 - The 1997 Japan Festival Oct. 2-3 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will have a strong Okinawan flavor and feature a Go tournament, martial arts demonstrations, dance, a video, tea ceremonies and a political panel discussion.
A highlight of the festival will be the panel discussion, "Okinawa and the Evolving Japan-United States Relationship," from 1-2:30 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Georgian Room of the Nebraska Union, 14th and R streets. Panel members will include Tatsuo Tanaka, Japanese consul general in Kansas City; Andrew Wedeman, assistant professor of political science at UNL; and William Tsutsui, assistant professor of history at the University of Kansas.
The festival begins with a tournament in the ancient Japanese board game of Go from 4-9 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Kawasaki Reading Room on the 11th floor of Oldfather Hall. The rest of the festival's activities will be in the Nebraska Union.
Marshall Olds, acting chair of the UNL department of modern languages and literatures, will deliver opening remarks at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Centennial Room, followed by an Okinawan karate demonstration at 7:05, "Southern Breeze," a video about Okinawa at 7:35 and Ryukyu dance from Okinawa performed by an Omaha troupe from 8:05-9:05.
Activities Oct. 3 begin with 10 a.m. opening remarks from Olds, Brian Foster, dean of the UNL College of Arts and Sciences, and Tanaka, who will present the winners of the Go tournament.
The opening remarks will be followed by martial arts demonstrations from 10:20-11:30 a.m. in the Centennial Room, traditional Japanese tea ceremonies from 1-1:30 and 2:40-3:10 p.m. in the Colonial Room and the panel discussion. The festival ends with closing remarks by Olds at 3:30 p.m. in the Georgian Room.
The entire festival is free and open to the public. For
further information contact Ryoko Sasaki-Shuss, director of the
Kawasaki Reading Room, at (402) 472-9427.
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