Girls Festival and Tea Party

Spring in full bloom, On March the 3rd we celebrate the 'Girls Festival' in Japan; decorating elegant Hina dolls, we celebrate the continued health and growth of girls, along with the arrival of spring.

This year, KIS held a small 'Girls Festival' with the JICA participants that are currently staying in Kosaka. Unfortunately, we had a terrible snowstorm on February 27; however, we had a wonderful time in the main hall in Sepamu. Mrs. Katsuta was kind enough to let us use her beautiful Hinadolls and, together with the JICA participants, we decorated them on the stage.

Decorating the dolls with the many hats, swords, and accessories proved to be quite a task, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. My special thanks to the kind people from the Sakae-cho neighbourhood, who lent ustheir hand-made doll shelf. We also decorated seashells with Japanese paper and pieces of Kimono, and then gave them to the JICA participants as souvenirs; they were very grateful.

After we finished with the decorations, we were fortunate enought o have everyone at Soseikai help us with a tea ceremony. Sitting on the red cushions, we ate traditional Japanese sweets and drank tea. We even had a few junior high school students out for the occasion. It was a good chancefor everybody to experience some of Japan's traditional culture.

Finally, while eating senbei and drinking amazake, we made some origami. The weather was poor outside but, inside the hall, the peach blossoms werein full bloom; we had a wonderful day of international exchange.

To Mrs. Katsuta, who lent us her valuable Hina dolls; to everyone in Sakae-cho for their decorations; and finally to Soseikai for their help with the tea ceremony, I offer my most heart felt thanks. The day couldn't have been a success without everyone's hard work and cooperation.

(Submitted by S.I.)