Nisei Week Japanese Festival | Los Angeles

Press Release

For immediate release

For more information:
Diane Tanaka
310-962-2698

To download .pdf version [CLICK HERE]

68TH NISEI WEEK JAPANESE FESTIVAL FREE ONDO PRACTICE SET TO BEGIN JULY 22 AT THE JACCC

(Los Angeles - June 26, 2008) - The 2008 Nisei Week Japanese Festival will be starting its free ondo practices every Tuesday and Thursday from July 22 to August 7. The practice will be held from 7 - 8:30 p.m. on the Japanese American Community and Cultural Center Plaza. Please bring sensu (fan) and uchiwa (round fan). Dancers will perform at the 68th Nisei Week Japanese Festival ondo street dancing and closing ceremony on Sunday, August 24.

The 2008 Nisei Week choreographer is Madame Sumako Azuma, who has choreographed two dances, "Obon" and "One Wish" by Hiroshima, which she hopes everyone will enjoy as it blends traditional Japanese dance with contemporary Japanese American music for a very special Nisei Week obon for everyone to experience.

The 2008 Nisei Week Japanese Festival takes place in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo District from August 16-24. For calendar of events and volunteer information on the 68h Nisei Week Festival, please log onto www.NiseiWeek.org or call the Nisei Week Foundation office at 213/687-7193. The Nisei Week office is located at 244 South San Pedro Street, Suite 303, Los Angeles, Calif., 90012.

The Nisei Week Festival, one of the longest running ethnic festivals in the U.S., has been attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year since its inception in 1934 (except during WWII from 1942 - 1948) to Little Tokyo to enjoy a Japanese American arts and cultural experience, and this year Nisei Week organizers - who are all volunteers - hope to draw even more to the community. The festival is produced by the Nisei Week Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, whose mission is to promote Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while bringing together the diverse communities of Southern California through arts and cultural education.

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