MORGAN HILL
– The Buddhist Community Center will come alive Sunday with the
cultural sounds of Taiko drums and Koto strings, the sights of
martial arts demonstrations and minyo dancing, and the
mouth-watering scent of barbecue, all part of the 44th annual Haru
Matsuri.
MORGAN HILL – The Buddhist Community Center will come alive Sunday with the cultural sounds of Taiko drums and Koto strings, the sights of martial arts demonstrations and minyo dancing, and the mouth-watering scent of barbecue, all part of the 44th annual Haru Matsuri.
This traditional Japanese spring festival also will host the 8th annual Northern California Taiko Exposition featuring the San Jose Taiko and 11 other Taiko performing groups on two stages. Drumming will begin after Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy’s opening remarks, shortly after 10:30 a.m. and end with San Jose Taiko taking the stage at 4 p.m.
The longest-running cultural festival in South Valley, Haru Matsuri will also feature displays ranging from ceramics and clothing with Asian print motifs to books and publications for all ages by Asian authors. The festival will offer traditional foods, entertainment (Minyo, Koto and others) and arts and crafts, plus a farmers’ market, free to all-comers. Visitors feeling lucky can take part in a raffle.
Lunch will include chicken and beef teriyaki, sushi, manju and much more. In addition, food will be available for takeout.
The 2003 festival took a blow when health inspectors, regulars at outdoor events, discovered refrigeration temperatures a few degrees too warm for safety (51 instead of 45 degrees) and shut down food service. Haru Matsuri organizers said they lost about $25,000 of the $30,000 normally earned.
This year, Howard Watanabe, the festival organizer, said he has worked with the county health department to ensure that things will be different.
“One of us was certified as a food safety manager,” Watanabe said, “and the refrigeration issue has been addressed.”
A second refrigeration truck plus a plastic screen to keep the cold air from escaping should maintain the proper temperature. Watanabe said the real problem last year was not a failing refrigerator but too many people going in and out of the unit too often.
Backing up strict temperature control, Watanabe said that food will be brought from the units as needed instead of in large batches, and each batch will be tagged with the time it emerged from cold storage.
“This will help us to monitor the process. Once it’s out, it needs to be taken care of in a four-hour period,” he said.
The 2003 festival had a second problem that kept the number of visitors down: Rain fell the day and night before and threatened all morning, though little fell during the afternoon’s events. Only about 3,000 visitors enjoyed the day instead of the 5,000 to 6,000 in normal years.
“Hopefully, this year it won’t rain,” Watanabe said. The forecast is for mostly sunny and 72 degrees.
Haru Matsuri will also feature part of Brian Shiroyama’s efforts to honor local WWII Japanese-American veterans. Visitors can see an exhibit of photos, letters, articles and artifacts describing the exploits of these men who were part of the 100th/442nd combat regiment and Military Intelligence Service, the most decorated of American regiments – and the one with the highest casualties.
Details: www.mhbcc.org or 779-9009.
