JASC’s Junko Goodwin lead a visit to Montessori Peaks Academy to share JASC’s Japan in the Schools program with ALL their lower elementary students. The kids had so many questions to ask and were amazed to learn that Japanese students served the daily school lunches and were responsible for cleaning their own schools! The presentation ended with some hands-on origami folding! It was a joy to be there and Junko, our JiS Program Manager, clearly has a passion for connecting with kids.

Would you like to see a Japan-related program at your child’s school? Or maybe at a local university, community center or library near you? JASC can bring an outreach program designed for your specific audience from toddlers to seniors and everything in between! Contact us with your ideas and requests. We love doing this! General Inquiries: info@jascolorado.org

Yoko Watanabe, our Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) Coordinator, visited Laredo Middle School in Aurora, CO recently. She shared and discussed modern Japanese culture with the students. Yoko introduced some famous, modern-day Japanese icons who worked hard to make their dreams come true. She then presented the students with ema (pictured above), on which to write their own dreams and share them. May their dreams come true!

Ema (絵馬) are typically small wooden wishing plaques which people purchase at temples and shrines to write their wishes on and dedicate to the gods. They are then tied or hung in a dedicated area within the temple/ shrine grounds.

節分 (Setsubun) literally means "seasonal division", referring to the day just before 立春 (Risshun), the first day of spring in the old Japanese calendar.

The main rituals during Setsubun are 豆まき (mamemaki) and eating 恵方巻 (ehoumaki). Mamemaki is the act of throwing roasted soybeans at demons in order to chase the bad spirits out of the home and usher in good luck while shouting "鬼は外!福は内” (Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!) or Devils out! Fortune in! After that, you eat the same number of soybeans as your current age- one bean for each year. Alternatively, some people use snacks other than soybeans and enjoy throwing and catching these instead.

Ehomaki is an uncut sushi roll and there are three rules for eating it:

1. Don't cut the roll into small pieces. You have to eat it whole.

2. Eat it facing the year's lucky direction.

3. Don't talk anything while eating.

If you don't follow these rules, you will lose all your good luck. Please be careful!

You can learn more about Setsubun and how to make Ehomaki by watching this video.