Morgan Hill
– The sounds of Taiko drums echoing across the valley, the aroma
of barbecued chicken and cloudy skies greeted visitors to the 45th
annual Haru Matsuri spring festival.
Morgan Hill – The sounds of Taiko drums echoing across the valley, the aroma of barbecued chicken and cloudy skies greeted visitors to the 45th annual Haru Matsuri spring festival.
A crowd of several thousand, and a few dogs, came out to the Buddhist Community Center on Murphy Avenue Sunday to enjoy Japanese music, food and crafts. While a steady stream of people attended the festival, it was not in the numbers organizers were hoping for.
“Usually the weather is a lot better,” said co-chair Howard Watanabe. “Though attendance is what it has been the past few years.”
Cars lined Murphy Avenue, but because of morning clouds that didn’t clear up until early afternoon, some people delayed going, organizers theorized.
Judy Little, a Morgan Hill resident who has been on the organizing committee for a number of years, said once the weather cleared, the visitors arrived.
“I think it went very well,” Little said. “(Attendance) looked pretty good. It was low at first, but once the sun came up, boy, the people started coming.”
But those who did attend Haru Matsuri said they enjoyed the atmosphere, though they all had their favorite part.
Carolyn Inouye, who came with her husband from Salinas to watch their niece play in one of the Taiko groups, said she enjoyed having the event in Morgan Hill instead of having to drive to San Jose or beyond.
“I think it’s a wonderful event,” said Inouye, who made her fourth trip to the festival.
Gilroy’s Lawson Sakai, a veteran from the honored World War II 442 Regimental Combat Team, said he enjoyed coming out and catching up with friends from the community.
“This is a nice little get-together for everybody,” Sakai said. “I’m very happy to see the sun come out.”
Morgan Hill resident Vince Pak said he came out to interact with different people from the community as well as the entertainment and the food.
“There are so many people here with different stories,” Pak said. “I can catch up with them.”
Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, has been attending the Haru Matsuri festival for 20 years. He said it has grown by leaps and bounds.
Honda added he was pleased to see members of the Japanese community, as well as others, come together to share in the culture.
“People are coming to a cultural event and enjoying a communal get together,” Honda said.
Thirteen different Taiko drum groups were featured, the most for the event according to co-chair Ron Mayeda. The day-long festival was billed as the ninth annual Taiko Expo.
Drummers played on two stages, one outdoor and one indoor. Featured groups were both local and from slightly farther away, including Sacramento and Union City.
But the most popular band of the day was the San Jose Taiko, the third oldest group in the United States.
The hall was filled to overflowing when San Jose Taiko performed.
Also in the hall was an exhibit featuring the 100th and 442nd Army Combat Divisions, whose ranks were entirely filled with Japanese-American soldiers during World War II. Many of them came from the internment camps following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s order – the infamous executive order 9066 that forced Japanese on the West Coast to report to the camps claiming national security concerns.
The exhibit included pictures of both the camps and the Japanese-Americans in combat. Also on display were artifacts collected from the war including a Japanese army rifle, medals, dog tags and a helmet.
Sakai, who helped put together the display, said its main purpose was to teach younger generations who don’t always know about what Japanese-Americans did during the war.
