The 70th Annual Nisei Week Festival was held in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo on August 14-22. I’ve been going to this festival for many years. I think the first time was in 2003. I’m not sure anymore. Little Tokyo is home to several festivals throughout the year, but Nisei Week in the largest. There’s a lot to see over the nine days of this festival. Last year, I did a lot of coverage of this event. I was there for a total of four days. I saw a lot of incredible things. Although it was fun, I really didn’t feel like doing that this year. It was an exhausting experience to say the least. Also, the absence of the Anime Festival this year gave me less motivation to at least be there for the entire first weekend of the festival.
This year, I only attended two days of this festival, which were the two Sundays of the event. The first Sunday is the most popular day of the festival because of the Grand Parade. Also returning for this year was the Tanabata Festival. There were 3 stages in various locations in Little Tokyo providing entertainment throughout the day. There was a little bit of everything–cultural performances, rock bands, martial arts. Even with the absence of the Anime Festival, there was still a lot to see and to keep myself busy. At the tail end of the Grand Parade was the Nebuta Festival, which seems to get bigger every year. Seeing these lighted floats rolling down the street is certainly and awesome sight.
The second weekend is a lot slower paced. There’s not as much going on, but there’s still plenty to see. I chose to attend the final Sunday of the festival with a few friends. This is closing day of the festival. Also absent this year was the JSN summer matsuri, usually held on this day at the Weller Court shopping plaza. On this day, the main events were the Taiko Festival and the Closing Ceremonies and ondo. We also spent some time looking at the exhibits in the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. Honestly, in the many years I’ve been going to Nisei Week, I’ve never really taken a look at what went on inside there. We found a vendor where you can buy your own set of samurai armor. We also found various art and clothing exhibits and demonstrations. We ended the day by participating in the ondo at closing ceremonies. The dances are fun and easy to learn. It’s always fun to participate in some aspect of a cultural festival.
This year’s Nisei Week was fun, but it’s alarming to see more events being lost. The anime festival was not there this year, but will return next year. The organizer was simply out of town for the weekend. The JSN summer matsuri was gone for this year. A few years ago, the street festival and anime festival got consolidated into one event, but that was not a significant decrease. The Tofu Festival no longer exists. Nisei Week is getting smaller and that’s not such a good thing. It’s a great festival. It’s one of my favorite events of the summer.
