Skip to content
Reading time: < 1 minute
2 students holding up Japanese calligraphy
Participants learned how to write Japanese calligraphy.

More than 800 students and community members filled the Campus Center Ballroom at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on October 25 for the annual Nippon Culture Day. The event showcased a vibrant blend of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. Organized by the Japanese section of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL), the annual showcase offers cultural immersion for Hawaiʻi high schoolers, college students and members of the public.

people playing Japanese card game
Players enjoy a round of hanafuda, a classic Japanese flower card game.

Participants had the chance to dive into various Japanese art forms and practices through interactive workshops on topics such as calligraphy, ikebana (flower arranging), Okinawan language and manga/anime drawing. For those interested in strategy, there were sessions dedicated to igo, a classic Japanese board game.

Perpetuating classic sounds

music performers on stage
Sanshin player perform on stage.

Audiences were treated to the soothing sounds of the koto, a 13-stringed zither, and the sanshin, an Okinawan three-stringed instrument. Three student musicians from UH Mānoa’s Center for Okinawan Studies (COS) were featured sanshin performers on stage.

Adding depth to the event, a high school student visiting from Japan offered insights into classical Japanese literature, discussing how iconic Japanese authors drew heavily from nature to help shape their narratives.

Nippon Culture Day is co-sponsored by the UH Mānoa Center for Japanese Studies and COS. Located within the College of Arts, Languages, and Letters, the EALL department has hosted the free event for more than 20 years.

person playing koto
Koto musicians held demonstrations of the traditional Japanese instrument.
Back To Top