We arrived in front of the Japan Society building in New York City which is close to the the United Nations Plaza.  The park was already packed by the time we made it to the entrance.  Considering that New York is so ethnically diverse, it is not surprising to see some group or the other having a parade, especially during warmer days. The Japan Society actually selects a different setting in which cultural activities are organized in a park and the only parade is a mikoshi procession.  Of course, there are traditional dances and music shows.

No Japanese festival can be complete without Japanese food, especially because of the popularity of Japanese food here during recent years.  Interesting enough, food was served in the traditional style with vendors on the side of the road and cooking being done right there.  There were some exotic dishes of course and since it was a fairly warm day, green tea flavored ice-cream was quite popular.

The festival draws people from all walks of life and not everyone there has been exposed to Japanese culture.  Some of these people had come there for the first time trying to learn more about Japan and they were not disappointed.  There were several traditional dances, kendo display, and of course the most popular mikoshi parade.

Most visitors to the festival looked quite amazed by the richness of the Japanese culture because they have either seen the high-tech electronic gadgets from Japan or Japanese people visiting New York who look more or less like anyone else with no signs at all of their rich past. 

Japan cultural agencies and other establishments responsible for promoting Japanese tourism should seriously consider sponsoring such events in other parts of the world.  In many large cities in the United States, for example, apart from being able to go to a sushi restaurant (which more often than not are run by owners who come from China or Taiwan), there is no other way to learn more about Japanese culture.

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