This online celebration will feature local artists, businesses and experts on various aspects of traditional and modern Japanese culture and  help support our community at this challenging time. Live sessions are scheduled for 7 p.m. daily during April.

Among segments will be: performances by Yellow of Japanese action comic punk band Peelander-Z, and by local ukulele duo Sho and Shin; an overview of street art, art galleries, anime exhibitions and anime shops in Oita; an introduction to fiber art and to iichiko shochu, a Japanese liquor made from barley; interviews with an Austin fashion designer about modern Japanese street fashion and with the director of Texas Anime Conventions; demonstrations of furoshiki, which is the Japanese practice of using cloth to wrap presents; bento boxes, which are single-portion meals common in Japanese cuisine; basic sumo exercises that can be done at home, and matcha tea; and a Buddist prayer for the world offered by an Austin resident whose family has been caretakers of Shingon Buddhism shrines in Japan for generations.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.