The 26th Abiko International Festival was held on a beautiful autumn Sunday under the theme “Let’s Fly Together on the Wings of Friendship”. Prior to the festival, a Peruvian folk dance was performed at the entrance of Abiko Shopping Plaza as the opening event. (No. 17--18)

Date and Time: Sunday, November 26, 2017 11:00 a.m. ~ 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Abiko Civic Plaza (Hall, Gallery, Salon and Japanese Room)

The number of foreigners living in Abiko has been increasing year by year. With the sub-theme “Let’s Begin with KONNICHIWA (Hello)!” the festival this year was meant for people of various nationalities to get to know each other. And AIRA asked other international exchange groups in the city to take part in this festival.
People enjoyed various events; stage performances in the hall, shops and displays in the gallery, the tea ceremony and experience of wearing kimono.

・ Kamishibai (Picture-Story Show) and Apron Theater
At noon Kamishibai was performed in the tatami-matted corner of the hall. The performer was Ms. Liu Peng from China, who showed the picture-story “Mysterious Power” in both English and Japanese. Children were attracted to Ms. Liu’s skillful story-telling.
Next was “Apron Theater” by Ms. Nahoka Noda and Haruka Someya from Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University. The aprons they were wearing were the stage of the doll play. The story went with dolls, taken out of the pockets and vividly moving, with the narration by the two performers. Children’s joyful voices filled the hall and adults were also amused by the performance.

・ Hall Events
1. Peruvian Dance
Peruvian Folk Dance (Marinera) was performed by students of Sol Ilna Peruvian Dance School. The audience was fascinated by the dynamic footwork of the male and female dancers and their beautiful costumes.

2. Kids Hip Hop Dance
Kappa Kids Dance often appears in various events like “Kappa Festival” in the city and their dance is loved by many people. The dancers from small children to high-school students excited the audience with their rhythmical steps.

3. Dance & Music by “Teganuma Sunset”
Nicknamed “After-School Idol”, Teganuma Sunset was born in Abiko this July and released their first CD in August. On the stage they sang and danced three songs, “Ooban Rock”, “Unakichi Paradise” and “Teganuma Sunset”. The lyrics are all about scenic places in Abiko which are familiar to Abiko citizens. Part of the lyrics of “Teganuma Sunset” goes like this; Give me courage, Teganuma Sunset .♪ Surely the song gave us courage!

4. Flute and Ocarina Performance
Dressed up in beautiful black kimono, Ms. Yukie Ishii played “Morning after Carnival” “Coffee Rumba” and other songs with the flute and the ocarina to the accompaniment of the piano played by Ms. Hiromi Tayama. Their performance in perfect harmony was a big gift to the audience.
Near the end of the show Mr. Tayama, the pianist, suddenly started to sing powerfully to the rhythm and surprised the audience. Ms. Ishii humorously spoke to the audience, “Were you surprised? Mr. Tayama is actually a jazz vocalist, too.”

5. Song and Quiz by Japanese Language Class students
Tuesday Class students gave a quiz show. They appeared in their traditional costumes and asked the audience which country they were from. They also gave other hints by showing slide shows and national flags.

Saturday Class students sang in chorus “If You Know You’re Happy and You Know It.” After the song the students introduced words meaning “happiness” in Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and French. May all people of all nationalities live happily and peacefully!

6. Songs and Quizzes by students of foreign language classes
a. Chinese Class
Ms. Zhang Hua’s students gave proverb quizzes. What is the Japanese proverb equivalent of the Chinese one “The older a ginger is, the better it is.” The answer is “Wisdom gotten from age is better than the shell of a tortoise. (The older, the wiser.)”
And they sang a popular song “I Only Care About You.” in Chinese.

b. French Class
Ms. Michelle Hirokawa’s students sang “Moulin Rouge” to the piano accompaniment.

c. Korean Class
Ms. Kim Jinam’s students and students from Chuo Gakuin University sang two songs. “You Don’t Know” and “Onara ( Please come over here)”

・ Gallery
1. Shops
・ Handmade bread and cakes (French booth),
・ Nepalese nan (AIRA Shop),
・ Pop-corn fresh from the pop-corn machine (US booth),
・ Peruvian cola and cakes (Peruvian booth),
・ Ramen, plum juice and small items (Korean booth),
・ Candies for children from Germany (German booth),
・ Tasting of Taiwanese tea
・ Sunflower seeds, panda magnets, and iron artworks (Chinese booth)
There were photographs, pictures and clothes of several countries displayed on the wall. Photographs taken by Korean class students during a trip to Korea were also shown.

2. Kids’ Space
Ms. Noda and Ms. Someya, who performed Apron Theater in the hall, were in charge of Kids’ Space, where a lot of kids were joyfully playing.

3. Others
a. “KONNICHIWA”, the sub-theme of the festival, was translated into 13 languages and displayed on the wall.
b. Introduction of “Abiko Host Families”
c. Introduction of AIRA activities
d. “Ask Us Anything” Section for foreigners who have questions and want to talk to Japanese
e. Aho Dori Manju (buns with sweet bean-jam filling, with a printed picture of an albatross on it). AIRA sells this manju every year to support Yamashina Institute for Ornithology for their activities to protect albatrosses.

・ Tea Ceremony
The tea ceremony hosted by Ms. Soga Ogasawara started in the lobby at 10:00. 107 people in total visited and enjoyed tea and Japanese culture in the quiet dim-lighted space.

 ・Wearing Kimono
In the Japanese room 25 people (20 women and 5 men) experienced wearing kimono. Ms. Keiko Taguchi, a kimono teacher and her assistants dressed them.

・ Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement)
At the entrance of the gallery there was a beautiful flower arrangement work by Ms. Shunko Iwai. Red poinsettias and white gypsophila were a beautiful combination reminding of upcoming Christmas. Foreigners dressed up in kimono were taking pictures in front of the flower arrangement.

・ Finale of the Festival (lottery drawings)
After all the events in the hall finished, the lottery drawing was held.
We thank all the individuals, groups, offices and companies for kindly providing the prizes.
Below are the prizes and providers.

・NEC Rugby Club (cheering goods for Green Rockets, towels, PU balls (colorful small rubber balls)
・Chuo Gakuin University (reusable shopping bags and ball-point pens)
・Yamashina Institute for Ornithology (books and postcards)
・Abiko City Hall (Unakichi straps and masking tapes)
・Bird Museum (clear files, ball-point pens and stickers)
・Mr. Thierry, French baker (1kg of bread)
・German booth (herb tea and candies)
・CD “Teganuma Sunset”

（Translated by Chizu Yamaguchi）