Arlington Sakura Matsuri @ Ottoson Middle School

I found this matsuri (festival) on The Genki Spark's webpage. I wasn't aware that Arlington had a Japanese sister city! This is the first of four local Japanese festivals in May that I'm aware of. Other matsuris this month:

• Kaji Aso Studio Japan Festival 2013, Sunday, May 5th
• Brookline Sakura Matsuri, Saturday, May 11th 
• Japan Festival in Boston, Sunday, May 19th

Learn more about the Japanese culture, the Arlington exchange program with our Sister City, Nagaokakyo, Japan, enjoy listening to Japanese songs and watch the taiko performers and traditional Japanese dancers, make origami or try your hand at the calligraphy or kendama.

Date & Time

Friday, May 3, 2013 

6pm

Location

Ottoson Middle School
869 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476

617-247-1719

Admission

$10/Family, $5/Individual

All proceeds go to the enrichment of The Arlington Nagaokakyo Student Exchange Program.

Hosted By
Arlington Nagaokakyo Sister City exchange

Tewassa Christmas Charity Concert Pictures

I wasn't able to take many pictures at the Tewassa Christmas concert in December because I was working, but photographer Tomoko Leman of Tomoko Photo was on hand. She sent me these photos a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post them. Thanks, Tomoko!

Tewassa Christmas Charity Concert on Saturday

Tewassa's Christmas concert is just a few days away. New raffle prizes keep coming in and we now have over $1,200 $1,305 $1,320 worth of prizes from many local Japanese businesses. Hope you can make it!

Our Christmas quilt will be on display. It's headed to the Ivy Baby Home nursery in Yamagata, along with some toys.

Tewassa Christmas Charity Concert

I will continue to update the raffle information. 
Last updated: 12/12/12

Local Japanese violinist, Momoko Matsumura, is generously organizing a Christmas concert to benefit Tewassa, the Japanese quilting group I'm involved with. Momoko-san played in the Play For Japan concert series that raised money for the Japanese Red Cross Society to support victims of the 3/11/11 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The concert is also being supported by the Japanese Women's Club of Boston (JWCB), where Tewassa started. There will also be a bake sale and raffle. A Christmas quilt that will be delivered to a nursery in Yamagata next month will be on display.

Date: Saturday, December 15, 2012
Time: Doors open 2:00PM, Concert 2:30PM - 4:00PM
Location: First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 630 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA 02476
Tickets: $12 includes one concert ticket and one raffle ticket. $20 includes one concert ticket and 6 raffle tickets. $2 each for additional raffle tickets. Kids under 12 are free. Tickets will be available at the door. Cash only.

Parking: Parking in Arlington municipal lots is free on Saturdays until 12/22/12.

MBTA: Multiple bus lines stop near the church. Please check the MBTA Trip Planner or Google Maps for directions.

Program

The concert will be kid-friendly. The first half of the program will be classical music, including music from the Nutcracker. Then we'll show a video of Tewassa's work and give out raffle prizes. The second half will be Christmas music with a surprise visit from Santa at the end.

Raffle

$1,320 worth of prizes!

• 314 Studio: Two necklaces - $40 & $45 value (Chihiro Makio) 
• Amnet: Ten $30 discount vouchers for JAL airfare (Tomoko Leman, travel agent) 
• Café Mami: $30 gift certificate (Carlos Garcia) 
• Ebi Sushi: One Sashimi Set - $15 value (José & Alfonso Garcia) 
• The Genki Spark: Two spots in a taiko class - $60 value (Karen Young) 
• GrayMist Studio & Shop: Gift items - $100 value (Etsuko Yashiro & Ken Kimura) 
• Hair Stylist Kayoko: Two gift certificates for hair cut, shampoo, and blow dry - $70 value (Kayoko Matsumoto) 
• hanaya floral: Dried flower arrangement - $50 value (Hiroko Takeshita) 
• Miso Market: Japanese snacks - $24 value (Fumi & Steve Genova) 
• NOCA GlassSchool: Hand-blown vase - $40 value (Jesse Rasid) 
• Snappy Sushi: $20 gift certificate (Kazu Aotani) 
• Studio Aika: Reversible Japanese apron/skirt - $120 value (Miho Takeuchi) 
• Tomoko Photo: One portrait photography sitting - $190 value (Tomoko Leman) 
• Tokai: Tokoname style teapot - $68 value (Hideyo Kanai) 
• Yakitori Zai: $50 gift certificate (Kazu Aotani) 
• Yume Wo Katare (no website): Ramen for 2 - up to $28 value (Tsuyoshi & Naomi Nishioka) 

Thank you to all the owners!