The annual Koshogatsu (Little New Year) celebration at St. Mary's University has evolved into Japanesque, a Japanese cultural festival. With the new format comes more flexibility as the event can now be celebrated at different times of the year and not be tied down to the Little New Year (which occurs at the first full moon of the year). This year 2014, the inaugural Japanesque was held last Sunday, Feb 2nd at SMU's Sobey building.
Dr. Alexandre Avdulov, coordinator of the Japanese Language and Culture Program, gives the opening remarks.
The event was organized by the Japanese Language and Culture Program, Department of Modern Languages and Classics of St. Mary's University, with the support of the Consulate General of Japan at Montreal. Members of the local community also shared their time and skills. Plus, the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Exchange Society of SMU was involved too.
There were many cultural demonstrations and workshops...
We were honoured to give the demonstration of ikebana.
L-R: Dr. J. Colin Dodds, President of St. Mary's University; Miyako Ballesteros, ikebana artist; and Mr. Tatsuo Arai, Consul General of Japan at Montreal.
Thank you to all who joined in the activities. We hope you enjoyed the afternoon! Thank you to all the organizers, supporters and sponsors for making this happen. It was a wonderful event and we hope to see you again next year.
All photos by the ikebana shop. All rights reserved.