Celebration of Japanese Culture: Summer Festival at Anderson Japanese Gardens
Photo: Festival Opening with Ho-Etsu Taiko | Yoshiko Urayma
The Japanese Summer Festival, an annual summertime staple at the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, returned after a three-year hiatus on the weekend of July 30 and 31. This year’s festival set a new attendance record of 3,644, according to the Gardens.
The annual “celebration of traditional Japanese arts” was canceled the last two summers due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the organizers began preparing for the event six months ago.
Photo: Chicago Koto Group plays Japanese music medleys | Yoshiko Urayama
A dynamic taiko drum performance by the Chicago-based ensemble Ho Etsu Taiko opened the festival in front of the Pavilion. A series of other performances and demonstrations followed in the area throughout the day, including: Koto music by the Chicago Koto Group; large-brush calligraphy by Hekiun Oda; Japanese candy making by the popular “Candyman” Masaji Terasawa; Awa Odori folk dance by Chicago Miko-ren; Meifu Shinkage Ryu Japanese Hand-weapon demonstration; and Aikido and Iaido martial arts demonstrations.
Interactive activity stations were set up at various locations in the Gardens, including a Japanese paper making workshop, a calligraphy and gold leaf sprinkle tryout, an origami station, and a haiku workshop. These hands-on activities were supported by the Japanese Culture Center in Chicago, which regularly offers classes such as origami taught by Ty Yamamoto and Calligraphy by Hekiun Oda.
A booth about “kintsugi,” the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery, was manned by Steve Jensen on Saturday. The craft is recently gaining popularity as a method of healing by mending and resurrecting broken items.
Tangerine Mountain Imports & Designs, a Rolling Meadows-based kimono dealer, was also on the premises. With a wide selection of traditional Japanese garments and accessories, it offered a kimono try-on where a guest could be dressed by the staff in a kimono of their choice.
Tea ceremonies were performed at the Guest House, hosted by Kimiko Gunji, Professor Emeritus of Japanese Arts & Culture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Anderson Japanese Gardens Tea Study Group.
People at the Festival: Select Interviews
Steve Jensen is a certified kintsugi instructor and teaches a workshop, aside form his day job as a financial advisor.
Born in Japan and having spent 13 years of his childhood there, Jensen speaks fluent Japanese. He was a private tour guide and translator for his friends, David Anderson and his wife, when they visited Japan years ago. David Anderson is a son of John Anderson, the founder of the Anderson Japanese Gardens. As a Founding Family Member, David is currently responsible for running the Gardens.
Q: What is kintsugi?
Photo: Steve Jensen demonstrates how to make “kintsugi” to give the next life to a broken ceramics | Yoshiko Urayama
Jensen: Kintsugi is a craft to mend ceramics using precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and copper. The idea is to take something that was broken and to mend it, not just for usefulness but also to make it beautiful again. It’s part of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi/sabi. Things that are broken, worn or old still have value, and can actually be more beautiful than something that’s new. That’s why we try to teach people that no one is broken and everyone can be beautiful.
Kin in kintsugi means gold, and tsugi mean “mend.” The work “tsugi” is also the word for “next.” So it could mean that the broken item had a life before and now that it’s mended, it’s living the next life.
Q: Do you break something purposefully to teach your students?
Jensen: [For teaching,] I go to places like Goodwill to find things that are old and chipped, and then break them. Also, we tell people to look around the house for things that are broken. We have a class of seven or eight people and teach them how to put them together. For example, this piece, [picking up a mended sample,] is a reject at a college pottery studio. I went in and asked the teacher if I could have it. It was a piece that the studio was going to throw away.
Q: Explain the kintsugi process.
Jensen: We first take a Japanese formula called Superglue to put broken pieces together .Then we take putty (we use dental putty or epoxy putty) and apply it to fill in the cracks. When it’s hardened, we sand it down so it’s smooth.
Then we make coating lacquer by mixing resin, made from cashew, with metal powder – we often use copper for day-to-day things, because gold is expensive – then we paint along the lines of the cracks with it.
The craft is about 400 years old. The story has it that there was a shogun who had a favorite tea bowl that broke. He sent it to China to be mended, but it came back stapled. So he gave it to his tea masters, who put it together using this kind of [kintsugi] method. The bowl came out more beautiful than before. That’s how kintsugi became more practiced and better known in Japan.
Q: What made you decide to learn kintsugi?
Jensen: I learned it in New York. A kintsugi master came from Japan and taught us the craft. Now I teach people in a workshop. It’s very interesting – when people do it in class, [the kintsugi process makes them] remember things, or their lives, that were broken. And through the process, they learn about themselves, learn that those things that were broken in their lives can be beautiful. So it actually helps people. Particularly in times like these, when many things seem to be broken, [kintsugi] has a good message. Kintsugi has been featured in TV programs on PBS and CBS. It’s becoming better known.
Q: Can it be done with glassware?
Jensen: It can be done, though it can be a little tricky. With glass, [the light] refracts in different ways, so the line that you think you are making sometimes ends up looking like a large blob. But it’s possible. I’ve done it. A lot of people have items from their grandparents that are broken. I mended things for people like that.
Photo: Hekiun Oda’s big shodo drawing “Matsuri (festival)” | Yoshiko Urayama
A woman’s grandfather had bought a piece in Spain after World War II and brought it back home. It’s been in the family for years. Now, her husband broke it, and she asked me to mend it when she saw me in a market one day. I mended that for her, and now it’s resurrected.
So, don’t throw away things that are broken. It can be rescued, like a dog [at a shelter waiting to be rescued].
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Shodo master Hekiun Oda teaches Japanese calligraphy classes at the Japanese Culture Center. He gave a large-brush calligraphy performance at the Pavilion. On a large white sheet of paper that was spread on the floor, he wrote a large character, using an oversized brush and a bucket full of black ink.
Q: What character is this?
Oda: It’s [a Chinese character that reads] “matsuri.” Matsuri means festival. This is a day of festival, so I chose this character. It’s simple and fun to write it.
Q: You used a large seal on your calligraphy. Does that say “Hekiun Oda”?
Oda: Yes, it has my name.
Q: Is that from Japan?
Oda: Yes. I had it made by a professional seal carver in Japan. Seal carving itself is a form of art, which uses an ancient style of writing Chinese characters.
Q: For large-brush calligraphy, you need a large seal like that.
Oda: That’s right. This one is 10cm x 10cm.
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Photo: Popular Booth of Tangerine Mountain where trying on kimono dresses is available. Yoshiko Urayama
Tangerine Mountain was founded by two sisters, Teri Noto and Cheri Santellano, known enthusiasts of Japanese culture. They import used kimonos and accessories from Japan and sell them in the U.S.
The sisters take part in events like Japanese festivals and anime/manga conventions, while traveling across the country to teach people how to put on a kimono.
Q: You have a lot of accessories here today, in addition to the garments.
Teri Noto: We have more accessories, yes. This way, hopefully, we can offer a place to start for more people.
Q: Today, you are demonstrating how to put on a kimono. It’s a good way because many people may think a kimono is great but have no idea how to wear it.
Noto: Exactly. This is how we want to do it [our business]. We want to meet people at where they are. They may have seen kimono on TV, or at an anime event. They may have a friend who tried a kimono on. And they may be interested in it themselves, but maybe they are hesitant because they know little about it and are afraid of making mistakes. But you have to try and practice in order to get it right. Here, we offer a package of everything – including kimono, obi [sash], and all the necessary accessories - so that everybody gets a place to start. Whichever you’re interested in, that’s the place to start. This way, we hope to give people a chance to start learning about the kimono culture.
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Photo: Arlette Ochocinski (L) and her family | Yoshiko Urayama
Arlette Ochocinski and her four children came from Chiago’s Pilsen area, along with her sister. The children are 3, 5, 7 and 10.
Q: Do you come here often?
Ochocinski: We have a membership here, so we try to come here at least four times a year to appreciate all the seasons of the gardens. It’s beautiful here.
When I realized there’s a garden here, I wanted to come and explore it. I’m really interested in bonsai and horticulture in general. I am new [in practicing bonsai] – I have only one or two years under my belt – but I have a lot of fun. I come here to get inspired.
Q: Why do you like this garden?
Ochocinski: This is very visitor friendly. The Phoenix Garden in Chicago is gorgeous, and it’s one of our favorite spots in Chicago. But when you travel in a big group, you have to walk in single file. [In comparison,] it’s a little bit easier to come here.
Also, it’s smaller than the places like the Chiago Botanic Garden, which is just so big. Here, you can handle it in one day.
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Sheila Carvalho and her husband Donovan are Naperville residents. Donovan was wearing a T-shirt that features the word Japan.
Q: How did you become interested in Japan?
Donovan: We’ve been to Japan for sightseeing on our vacation, twice. We visited Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Chiba . . . many places. We took the bullet train.
Q: How did you like it there?
Sheila: Very nice. We went to see maiko in Kyoto, to see her doing the tea ceremony. In Nara, we saw deer at the deer park.
Q: How did you get the information about today’s event?
Sheila: We’ve come here before, and I signed up on their email service, so they sent me an email about it. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they didn’t have the event for three years. We are also going to the Midwest Buddhist Temple’s Ginza Festival this year, on August 13 and 14.
Q: Looks like you are fans of Japanese culture.
Photo: Brittani Jackson (C), Lorelei Moore (L) and Jackson’s daughter | Yoshiko Urayama
Donovan: Yes. I like martial arts. I used to take karate lessons years ago, for about four or five years. There are dojos [martial arts schools] in Naperville, but they are having a hard time keeping their doors open because of the pandemic.
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Brittani Jackson brought her teenage daughter and her friend to the festival. They came from Sycamore.
Q: What brought you here today?
Jackson: My friend has been coming here for years. And my daughter is really into Japan and Japanese culture. She wants to go there after high school, on a study abroad program. So we wanted to come here to experience Japanese culture.
Q: Are you a fan of Japanese culture yourself?
Jackson: I do like it; it’s very inviting, and the artistry is wonderful. The garden here is structured very well and designed [for visitors] to enjoy nature. I just like how the colors are put together. It’s warming and feels like home. When you travel all over the place, it brings calmness to your heart. It’s very natural, and you want to be here for a long time.
Photo": Debbie Nemeth | Yoshiko Urayama
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Debbie Nemeth from the Beverly neighborhood in Chiago is a graphic designer. She was seen at Tangerine Mountain’s kimono booth with her husband, trying on a brown kimono and a black obi.
Q: How do you like your kimono?
Nemeth: I think it’s beautiful. It has simple graphic prints that are not [overwhelming], and I think it’s very elegant. I like the long silhouette it creates.
Q: Do you have anything Japanese in your life?
Nemeth: We have a small koi pond in our backyard. We are getting Japanese lanterns and a variety of things like that, so it’s really turning Japanese. I also do a little bit of flower arrangement.
Q: What made you start a koi pond and other things Japanese?
Nemeth: We started with having a lily pool, and then we go “let’s have some fish in it.” Then we [found out about] koi pond and became more involved in it.
Q: How often do you come here?
Nemeth: We have been coming here for five years now, a couple of times in summer for sure. I try to catch the color in the fall, when the trees are changing colors. We have five or six Japanese maples in our yard, some are potted and some are in the ground.
Nemeth’s husband: She is a graphic designer, so she has very good eyes for artistic things.
Q: Ah, that explains her choice of this “shibui” [rustic and elegant] kimono.