The Missouri Botanical Garden's Annual Japanese Festival is September 4-5-6

By Karen Hill

St. Louis, MO - The Missouri Botanical Garden’s annual celebration of Japanese sights, sounds and traditions returns to St. Louis on Labor Day weekend! Experience the Japanese Festival, Saturday, Sept. 4 and Sunday, Sept. 5 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 6 (Labor Day) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors (ages 65 and over) and $5 for children ages 3 to 12. Visit www.mobot.org/events/japanesefestival  for a complete schedule of the weekend’s activities.

A boisterous festival procession originates at the Climatron® on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. to launch the celebration. Follow the ornately-decorated dashi stage and omikoshi Shinto shrine as they wind their way through the Garden to the entrance of Seiwa-en, the “garden of pure, clear harmony and peace” and one of the largest authentic Japanese strolling gardens in North America. Visiting and local dignitaries will break a cask of sake in the ritual of kagamiwari as bon odori dancers and taiko drummers entertain the crowd, officially opening the Japanese Festival.

Throughout the weekend, visitors can enjoy more than two dozen different activities and forms of entertainment, including a host of family-friendly offerings. The St. Louis Osuwa Taiko group returns to thrill crowds with the reverberating boom of their taiko drums on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday and Monday at 2 p.m. on the lawn of the outdoor Cohen Amphitheater. Learn traditional Japanese festival dancing with bon odori demonstrations both Saturday and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Yagura stage in the Japanese Garden.

Weighing in at 1,100-plus combined pounds, friendly giants and retired professionals Koryu, Sunahama and Kamikiiwa showcase Japan’s ancient and revered national sport of sumo wrestling twice a day at the Cohen Amphitheater. Learn what life was like training and living in Japan’s sumo heya (or stables) for these Hawaiian-natives, all of whom achieved high rankings in the sport. A few daring audience members will have the chance to compete against the three sumotori in practice bouts! Sumo demonstrations are Saturday at 1:30 and 4 p.m. and Sunday and Monday at noon and 4 p.m.

The University of Missouri-Columbia Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe takes the stage daily for performances of bunraku, a form oftraditional Japanese puppet theater. Watch detailed, four-foot-tall wooden puppets dramatically come to life, aided by a system of rods, levers and a team of three puppeteers called the ningyo-zukai. Shows are Saturday at 5 and 6:30 p.m., Sunday at 4 and 5:30 p.m. and Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the Shoenberg Theater; seating is limited and available first-come, first-served.

Don’t blink or you’ll miss the action as artist Naomi Hamamura quickly chisels frosty blocks into detailed ice sculptures at 1 p.m. daily outside of the Spink Pavilion. Martial arts including kendo, karate, koryu bugei, judo and aikido will be demonstrated at various times throughout the weekend on the Garden’s south lawn.

Enjoy the arts of origami, calligraphy, bonsai and ikebana inside the Ridgway Visitor Center. Take a daytime Japanese Garden guided tour or a candlelight walk on Saturday and Sunday night from 8 to 10 p.m. The “Candyman” Masaji Terasawa is back to roam the grounds, delighting onlookers with his unique style of street magic and sugary-spun creations.

Attend a special screening of the anime movie “Ponyo” on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Shoenberg Theater. The Japanese cartoon animation style is distinguished by stylized, doe-eyed characters and frenetic action. “Ponyo” is the imaginative retelling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid,” directed by Academy Award® winner Hayao Miyazaki.

Experience the ritual of chado as tea ceremonies are celebrated six times daily on the sacred Teahouse Island in the Japanese Garden. Tickets go on sale twice daily from the Plum Viewing Arbor and are an additional $25 each, cash only; limit 12 people per session and two tickets per person for this exclusive offering.

Shop for souvenirs and other Asian-inspired merchandise at the Japanese marketplace and the Garden Gate Shop. In addition to traditional Japanese food, including sushi, yakisoba (fried) noodles, pancake-like okonomiyaki and green tea ice cream, the food court will also have booths selling fare from crab rangoon to kebabs, along with beer and sake.

Support for the 2010 Japanese Festival is provided by Novus International, Inc and Coca-Cola.

Japanese Festival hours are Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (doors open at 9 a.m. and remain open until 10 p.m. for evening candlelight walks), and Monday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors ages 65 and over and $5 for children ages 3 to 12. Missouri Botanical Garden members are $5 and their children are free.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit and from Interstate 64 at the Kingshighway North & South exit. Free parking is available on-site and two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer.

For general information, visit www.mobot.org or call (314) 5775100 (toll-free, 1-800-642-8842). For Japanese Festival updates, follow the Garden on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mobotnews or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/missouribotanicalgarden.

Join the Garden or renew your membership during Japanese Festival and receive free admission for two adults and all children for every day of the festival! Memberships begin at $65 ($60 for seniors) and offer 12 months of free admission for two adults and all children, plus exclusive invitations and discounts. Learn more at www.mobot.org/membership.

To view Missouri Botanical Garden’s web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-1032-Missouri_Botanical_Garden