XXII JAPANESE CULTURE FESTIVAL IS HELD IN SARATOV
BY NIKOLAY MAKSIMOV | 9 MARCH 2021
On March 2-6, the XXII festival «Days of Japan in Saratov» was held in Saratov. The format was mixed. Some of the events were held online, and some were offline.
On March 2 and 3, residents and guests of Saratov could independently attend a lecture and a master class. Nutritionist, gastroenterologist Vera Gladkova gave a lecture “Traditional Japanese cuisine as an aspect of health and longevity”, and a master of Japanese calligraphy, an instructor of the first category (Japan) Ishijima Kaori gave a master class in Japanese calligraphy.
Ishijima Kaori flew to Saratov for just one day. Both master classes were attended by a fairly large number of people, regardless of age. For an hour, the guests of the master class learned to hold a brush in their hand correctly, as well as to draw a hieroglyph that translates as «sakura» — 桜. An interesting addition to the calligraphy master class was a small presentation from Kaori-san to Japanese history. The master class was held on March 3 and it was on this day that the Hinamatsuri holiday, or the Festival of the Dolls, was celebrated in Japan. This day is one of the main holidays for girls in Japan.
The next two days were devoted to Japanese culture, with a focus on engraving of the late 18th — mid-19th centuries, as well as the Japanese cultural code from a modern perspective.
Note that until April 11, anyone can visit the exhibition “Pictures of the Changing World. Ukiyo-E engraving, ceramics and enamels of Japan «, which takes place in the Saratov State Art Museum. A.N. Radishchev.
On the last day of the festival, March 6, an online master class on cooking Japanese dishes, directly from Tokyo, was held by the chef of the COOK COOP BOOK Aki Nakagawa. The video link from Tokyo was freely available at the Saratov Regional Universal Scientific Library. In one hour, Aki Nakagawa demonstrated making chicken cutlets, miso soup and tofu salad.
This festival is held in honor of the Year of Japanese-Russian interregional and twin-city exchanges by the Embassy of Japan in Russia and the Saratov branch of the Russia-Japan Society with the support of the Government of the Saratov Region.
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