Arts & Life, Events

LBSU Japanese Garden celebrates Peach Blossom Festival

Throughout the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, people participated in activities offered for the Peach Blossom Festival, also known as Girl’s Day in Japan.

The faculty at the garden wanted to showcase Japanese culture and show people that there are more similarities than differences between Japan and the U.S.

“We like to introduce Japanese culture in the garden but also mix it with the university standards and cultural differences,” said Alison Redfoot, garden education assistant director.

Redfoot explained that Girl’s Day is used to promote health and well-being among mothers and their daughters. A Japanese tradition, according to Redfoot, is to symbolically transfer disease and bad luck from your daughter and into the doll and send it down the river to get rid of it.

Kara Thomas
Three generations of women enjoy the Peach Blossom Festival at the Japanese Garden.

At the front of the garden, women offered “tea and treats” as well as Japanese postcards that guests could color at any of the coloring tables around the area. Children excitedly fed koi fish and collected roly-poly bugs while enjoying the festivities.

The event was relatively calm and laid back as employees informed guests about Japanese culture and the activities that people were joining in on. People took leisurely strolls along the paths of the garden, some there to just enjoy the atmosphere of the garden.

She said a common activity girls do to symbolize the transfer is to play games like jacks and otedama, a game similar to hacky sack, or fold origami in front of the doll. They included the games to show similarities between American and Japanese culture.

“People will start to go, ‘Oh, another culture isn’t so different,” Redfoot said.

In the back corner of the garden, a red tent had games and crafts inside as attendees got the chance to play reverse bingo, otedama, and create emperor and empress bookmarks.

Kara Thomas
A woman juggles inside a red tent as attendees participate in crafts offered during the Peach Blossom Festival.

Reverse bingo starts with all of the tiles covered, and players remove the coverings when they hear their tile called, much like the opposite of the bingo that most people are familiar with.

Guests sat at long, red tables crafting bookmarks based on an example of an emperor and empress meant to symbolize wealth. There were many materials like golden foils and flower cut-outs available for people to use to create their own.

“[My wife and I] got married here,” said Jason Sumpter, garden member. “We donate back every year, and it was nice to come today.”

The event was calm and during the day, which fell in line with the theme of the Peach Blossom Festival that marks seasonal changes throughout the year. There are five seasonal festivals in Japan including the Iris Blossom Festival, or boy’s day, and the Star Festival.

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