Japan Play Transylvania

In ultimele luni de zile, in mintile catorva tineri interprinzatori se contura un festival de cultura traditional si moderna japoneza, unul din primele festivale de cultura japoneza de anvergura din Cluj-Napoca. Festivalul a fost gandit sa acopere atat cultura populara moderna a Japoniei, mult indragita si anticipata de tineretul interesat de cultura japoneza de la Cluj si din tara, cat si partea culturala traditionala, fara de care cultura japoneza moderna cu siguranta ca nu ar exista in forma in care se gaseste acum.

Organizatorii principali ai acestui festival, dl Mircea Muresan si dra Raluca Tripa, au apelat la Cercul Prietenii Japoniei, care a mai avut experiente anterioare cu astfel de manifestari, chiar daca la scara mai mica, la nivelul orasului Cluj-Napoca, pentru a contribui cu o serie de evenimente culturale traditionale ce aveau sa aiba loc incepand din seara de vineri, 27 aprilie, pana duminica, 29 aprilie, seara.

Am acceptat aceasta provocare, pe care am reusit sa o ducem la indeplinire cu succes neasteptat de mare, dupa opinia noastra. Spatiul care ne-a fost pus la dispozitie a fost Bastionul Croitorilor din Piata Cipariu, poate locul cel mai potrivit din Cluj pentru domeniul care ni s-a dat in grija, acela al culturii traditionale japoneze.

Vineri, 27 aprilie – Ceainaria Sakura

Cu ajutorul voluntarilor nostri si a celor pusi la dispozitie de catre organizatori, carora le multimim, bineinteles, nespus de mult, am reusit sa pregatim expozitia ce avea sa se deschida publicului a doua zi dimineata, si sa facem in acelasi timp si pregatirile necesare pentru Ceremonia Ceaiului, care a avut loc in Ceainaria cu specific japonez „Sakura”, pe Calea Motilor, nr. 48., ca si un eveniment de deschidere pentru ce avea sa se intample in urmatoarele doua zile.

Ceremonia a decurs frumos, fiind executata de insusi directorul Cercului Prietenii Japoniei, dl Katsutaro Kawai, care a servit ceai verde pudra in mod ceremonial, fetelor superbe imbracate in kimono. 

Dupa aceasta servire demonstrativa, fiecarei persoana prezenta i s-a dat sansa sa participe la aceasta ceremonie, pentru a gusta din ceea ce inseamna aceasta onoare, de a fi servit cu ceai japonez matcha in cel mai frumos mod cu putinta de catre persoana care executa aceasta ceremonie.

La finalul ceremoniei publicul a putut face poze si sa discute, sa puna intrebari si sa se bucure de ceainarie in continuare.

Sambata, 28 aprilie – Bastionul Croitorilor

Sambata dimineata festivalul a inceput, cu toate panzele sus, la ora 10:00, prima activitate pe care am sustinut-o fiind kitsuke, sau probatul kimono-ului. Chiar daca nu am avut la dispozitie si kimono-uri pentru barbati, multe fete s-au aratat doritoare sa incerce imbracamintea deosebita.
*(Pozele facute participantilor pot fi ridicate adresele:
http://www.2shared.com/file/4q9Xnjpt/kitsuke_pt1.html
http://www.2shared.com/file/JQHTrgoK/kitsuke_pt2.html
http://www.2shared.com/file/VEL6hxHX/kitsuke_pt3.html)

                                             Multumim tuturor!

La ora 10:30 a inceput si proiectia de basme traditionale japoneze, unde cele trei fete voluntare imbracate in kimono au lecturat basmele, astfel ca acestea au prins viata, impreuna cu imaginile din spate. 

Copiii, care compuneau marea parte a publicului, s-au aratat foarte entuziasmati si incantati de acest moment, insa momentul a parut sa captiveze si tinerii si adultii, care s-au bucurat si au aplaudat impreuna cu copiii.

Ora 12:00 a adus cu ea atelierul origami, unde prezenta a fost compusa atat de copii cat si de tineri si adulti. Am confectionat impreuna cateva modele traditionale japoneze, cum ar fi bine-cunoscutul cocor, coiful de samurai si broscuta saltareata. 

Chiar daca am folosit foi de hartie de dimensiuni mai mici, participantii s-au aratat indemanatici, modelele reusite aducand zambete pe buze.

Dupa atelierul origami am trecut la jucariile japoneze pentru copii. Publicul, cu mic si mare, s-a aratat din nou entuziasmat si incantat de interesantele jucarii japoneze, in care se numara darumaotoshi, kendama, fuusen, koma si alte jucarii interesante, a caror demonstratie a fost facuta de catre dl Kawai, cu ajutorul catorva mici voluntari din randul publicului.

 Aceasta demonstratie s-a dovedit a fi de asemenea, o atractie interesanta pentru public.

Dupa demonstratia de jucarii japoneze am fost onorati sa il avem intre noi pe dl Yasuyuki Takagi, pentru un moment cultural japonez inedit, o demonstratie de muzica la shamisen, instrument traditional japonez, 

urmat de un dans traditional japonez. 

Publicul a fost incantat de spectacolul oferit de dl Takagi, care desi in prezent locuieste in Bucuresti, a inceput sa cante la shamisen in urma cu trei ani, in ciuda varstei sale. Prin propriul exemplu, dansul doreste sa ne demonstreze ca nu este niciodata prea tarziu pentru a invata ceva nou. Am dori sa nu uitam acest lucru pana cand vom ajunge si noi la varsta dansului.

Ziua a fost incheiata cum se cade, cu un ultim eveniment care a inceput la ora 17:00, o demonstratie de ikebana, arta aranjarii florilor, sau mai exact arta de a da viata florilor. Demonstratia a fost realizata de sotia dlui Kawai, dna Kayoko Kawai. 

Am asistat la procesul de aranjare a doua aranjamente florale, timp in care dna Kayoko a oferit explicatii legate de regulile de aranjare, proportii, dimensiuni, elementele componente. Publicul a fost din nou incantat si s-au realizat multe fotografii cu aranjamentele, dar si cu dl Takagi si dna Kawai, imbracati in imbracamintea traditionala japoneza, kimono.

Duminica, 29 aprilie – Bastionul Croitorilor

Ziua de duminica a semanat, in mare parte, cu ziua de sambata, cu cateva diferente, oferind astfel sansa celor care nu au putut sa vina in prima zi sa vada o mare parte din evenimente in a doua zi a festivalului.

Ziua a inceput la fel, cu probarea de kimono si cu momentul de basme japoneze, lumea aratandu-se la fel de incantata ca in ziua precedenta. Dupa momentul de basme japoneze a urmat o proiectie de documentar despre urmarile dezastrului din 11 martie din Japonia, la un an de la acesta. Dupa proiectie a urmat o noua demonstratie de dans japonez si shamisen, realizata de acelasi domn Yasuyuki Takagi. Dat fiind faptul ca de aceasta data evenimentul era anticipat, prezenta la eveniment a fost mai mare, precum si repertoriul de cantece la shamisen pe care dl Takagi le-a cantat.

Dupa momentul Takagi a urmat din nou o prezentare de jucarii japoneze, jucarii pe care publicul a fost mai apoi liber sa le incerce. Copiii s-au aratat din nou deosebit de incantati. Nu a fost insa timp de prea multa joaca pentru ca la ora 15:30 incepea atelierul etegami. 

Un numar mare de participanti s-a prezentat si la acest eveniment, care a fost unul foarte reusit, felicitarile pictate fiind unele dintre cele mai reusite pe care le-am vazut. 

Publicul s-a aratat incantat si la acest eveniment, lucru care ne-a facut sa uitam putin de oboseala acumulata in cele 3 zile.

Punct festivalului de la Bastionul Croitorilor a pus evenimentul de haiku, in care cativa studenti de la Facultatea de Litere, indrumati de dna Rodica Frentiu, profesoara de limba japoneza si caligraf, au recitat in fata publicului cateva poeme haiku.

 In a doua parte a acestui eveniment, dl Radu Cretu, autor de haiku in limba romana, a recitat la randul sau cateva creatii proprii si ale catorva din membrii cenaclului de haiku „Sakura”, care se intalneste o data pe luna la ceainaria cu specific japonez cu acelasi nume. In final am multumit participantilor iar festivalul a luat sfarsit.

Expozitia de obiecte japoneze

Pe tot parcursul festivalului, publicul a putut vizita si expozitia de obiecte japoneze pe care am amenajat-o la etajele 2 si 3 ale turnului, la etajul 2 putand fi admirata si expozitia de caligrafie a dnei prof. univ. Rodica Frentiu. 

In cadrul expozitiei s-au putut vedea diverse obiecte japoneze, de la papusi in miniatura la coiful de samurai. Printre piesele notabile se numara o papusa japoneza de dimensiuni mari, imbracata traditional, baiatul samurai, complex realizat, unde se pot observa diverse aspecte ale costumatiei unui samurai, 

waramono, manneki neko, vesela japoneza, evantaie deosebite, dar si modele complexe realizate prin tehnica origami, kirigami si papercraft. 

Personal, am fost incantati de expozitia pe care am reusit sa o realizam si credem ca si vizitatorii au ramas placut impresionati.

La iesirea din cladire, vizitatorii au avut posibilitatea, pe tot parcursul festivalului, sa achizitioneze suveniruri, pentru a avea un lucru care sa le aminteasca de acest festival.

Ganduri de final

In general, festivalul a depasit chiar si asteptarile noastre, din punctul nostru de vedere. Bineinteles ca parerile sunt impartite in cazul publicului exterior. Ar fi imposibil sa impacam pe toata lumea. Suntem insa bucurosi ca am primit feedback pozitiv din partea multor participanti, multe incurajari, ceea ce ne ajuta sa ne straduim in continuare sa facem lucruri cel putin la fel de frumoase. Ne-am bucurat mult sa vedem fete vesele, incantate, fete care poate au gasit in sfarsit ceea ce cautau de atata vreme, asa cum poate eram multi dintre noi la un moment dat.

Festivalul va ramane mai mult decat o amintire placuta pentru noi, avand credinta ca fiecare strop de sudoare scurs in acest festival a fost castigat. Dorim sa multumim atat publicului minunat cat si voluntarilor, fara de care nu am fi putut sa ducem aceasta misiune la indeplinire sub nici o forma. Dorim ca pe viitor, sau cat mai curand posibil, astfel de manifestari culturale sa mai aiba loc, fie la Cluj, fie in alte parti. Multumim tuturor din inima si speram sa ne vedem cat mai curand in cadrul activitatilor culturale pe care noi le organizam.

 ***English Version below:*****

In the past months, a Japanese popular and modern culture festival was being prepared in the minds of a few young people, one of the first significant Japanese culture festivals in Cluj-Napoca. The festival was organized so as to cover both Japanese modern culture, beloved and much anticipated by the younger generation public from Cluj and around the country, and Japanese traditional culture as well, with the lack of which modern culture would not be the one we know today for sure.

The main coordinators of this festival, Mr. Mircea Muresan and Ms. Raluca Tripa, asked Japan’s Friends Club, who had previous experience with such cultural manifestations though on a smaller scale, at city level, to handle most of the traditional culture related events at the festival, which were going to start Friday evening, April 27^th, and last through Sunday, April 29^th.

We accepted this challenge and brought it to a successful ending. The space we were provided was Bastionul Croitorilor in Piata Cipariu, maybe the best place in Cluj for the domain that we were responsible of, that of Japanese traditional culture.

Friday, April 27^th – Sakura Teahouse

With the help of our volunteers and the ones provided by the organizers, whom we thank a whole lot, we managed to get ready the expo which had been going to open to the public next morning, in time for the Japanese Tea Ceremony which was going to take place that evening at “Sakura” Japanese Teahouse, on Calea Motilor, 48, as an opening event for what was going to happen in following two days.

The Ceremony went well and it was performed by Japan’s Friends Club director, Mr. Katsutaro Kawai, who served powder green tea ceremonially to the beautiful girls dressed in kimono. After this demonstration, every participant had the chance to participate at the ceremony, to have a taste of what this honour means, to be served Japanese matcha in the neatest way the person who performs the ceremony can.

At the end of the ceremony the public was free to enjoy the teahouse, to ask questions and take pictures with the girls.

Saturday, April 28^th – Bastionul Croitorilor

Saturday morning the festival started at full speed at 10 o’clock, the first activity being kitsuke, kimono dressing. Even though we didn’t have kimonos for men, many girls wanted to try the beautiful Japanese garment.

At 10:30 the Japanese traditional legends projection began, where three volunteer girls, dressed in kimonos lectured the legends in such way that they caught life together with the suggestive images in the back. Not only children, who made up the majority of the public, appeared very enthusiastic, but so did the adult audience, who laughed and clapped together with the children.

12:00 o’clock brought with itself the origami workshop, where the public was also made up of both children and adults. We made together some traditional Japanese origami models, like the well-known crane, the samurai helmet and super frog. Even though we used paper of smaller size than usual, the participants proved very dexterous, the models they created being the source of many smiles.

After the origami workshop we we went on to the Japanese toys. The public was very curious about the interesting Japanese toys, among which we mention darumaotoshi, kendama, fuusen, koma and some other interesting toys. Mr. Katsutaro Kawai demonstrated how to play with each toy, helped by little volunteers from the public. The demonstration proved to be a magnet for the public.

After the Japanese toys demonstration, we were honoured to have with us Mr. Yasuyuki Takagi, for a special Japanese cultural moment, a shamisen demonstration, which is a Japanese musical instrument, followed by a traditional dance demonstration. The public was very excited about the spectacle offered by Mr. Takagi, who even though he lives in Bucharest, he started learning how to play the shamisen three years ago, despite his age. By his own example, he wanted to teach us that it is never too late to learn something new. We would like to keep his message in mind until we will be of his age.

The day ended in glory, with a last event which started at 17 o’clock, an ikebana demonstration, the art of flower arrangements, or literary the art of giving life to flowers, performed by Mr. Kawai’s wife, Ms. Kayoko Kawai. We assisted at the process of arranging two flower arrangements, Ms. Kawai offered explanations regarding the rules of ikebana, proportions, dimensions, elements of the arrangements. The public was impressed again and many pictures of the arrangements were taken, and also with Mr. Takagi and Ms. Kayoko, who were dressed in a japanese traditional way.

Sunday, April 29^th

Sunday was much like Saturday, with a few different activities, giving people the chance to participate to the events that they could not participate to the previous day.

The day started the same, with kitsuke and with the Japanese legends moment, the people proving as interested as they were the day before. After this event, we projected a documentary about the situation of Japan a year after the dramatic events of March 11^th. After the projection Mr. Takagi performed at shamisen and danced for us again. Given the fact that this time the event had been announced before, more people were present at the event and Mr. Takagi’s repertoire was more consistent.

After the Takagi moment we presented the Japanese toys again to the public, giving them the possibility to try them afterwards. The children were very excited again. There was not much time for playing around though, since at 15:30 the etegami workshop began. A great number of participants came to this event, which was a really successful one. The postcards they painted were wonderful, some of the best we’ve seen at our workshops. The participants seemed very happy and excited, which made us forget about the fatigue accumulated in the 3 days.

The last event of the festival that took place at Bastionul Croitorilor was the haiku event, where several students of the Litere Faculty, coordinated by Ms. Rodica Frentiu, a professor at the Babes Bolyai University, recited in front of the public a few haiku poems. In the second part of the event, Mr. Radu Cretu, Romanian haiku writer, recited some of his personal creations and some of the members of the “Sakura” haiku circle who meet once a month at the “Sakura” Teahouse. In the end we appreciated the public for their attention and the festival at Bastionul Croitorilor came to an end.

The Japanese Objects Expo

During the festival, the public could visit our Japanese objects expo, which we arranged at the 2^nd and 3^rd floor of the building, the 2^nd floor being shared with Ms. Rodica Frentiu’s calligraphy exposition. Within the exposition, the visitors could see such diverse items as miniature dolls, a samurai helmet, a samurai doll boy, very complex, on which various details can be observed., waramono, manneki neko, Japanese porcelain, hand fans and complex origami, kirigami and papercraft models.

Personally, we were very pleased with our exposition and we believe that the visitors were also impressed.

All during the festival, at the exit, the visitors had the possibility to get souvenirs for a better memory of the festival.

Final thoughts

Generally, the festival exceeded our expectations. Of course, there are always people who are hard to satisfy. However, we are relieved that we got positive feedback from many of the participants, lots of encouragements, which helps us make every effort from here on to organize events at least as interesting as this. We were very happy to see smiling faces, who maybe finally found what they were looking for for a long time, like we were maybe some time.

The festival will remain more than a pleasant memory for us, believing that every drop of sweat shed during this festival was worth. We want to give our thanks to both the wonderful public and to the volunteers, without the help of whom we could not have ended the mission successfully by any means. We wish that in the future, or maybe as soon as possible, such cultural manifestations to take place in Cluj or in other places. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and see you soon at our usual cultural activities.