2015 Rising Tohoku Food Fair

  

    

    

Thursday, August 20 - Sunday, August 23, 2015
11:00 am – 6:00 pm daily
Cultural performances and Yuru Chara (regional mascots) photo ops at 11:30am and 4:00pm everyday through Sunday

Mituswa Market Place, Torrance
21515 Western Avenue, Torrance, CA 90501

Rising Tohoku Food Fair Celebrates the Culinary Specialties, Culture and Beauty of Tohoku with Delicious Foods, Festival & Dance Presentations, Craft Workshops and Photo Ops with City Mascots, Which Will Educate, Entertain, and Engage Children and Adult.

The Rising Tohoku Food Fair hosted by Mitsuwa Marketplace presents 4 full days of food and cultural festivities to celebrate the charms of the Tohoku region in Northeast Japan, which can be enjoyed by children and adults. In addition to presenting diverse and flavorful food products originating from the 6 prefectures of Tohoku, there will be a variety of paper craft activities such as origami and writing wishes on tanzaku paper, plus photo opportunities with charming and endearing city-specific mascots.

They include: Miyagi City’s iconic Musubi-maru who wears a samurai costume and resembles onigiri (rice ball); Fukushima City’s adorable Momorin rabbit who represents Fukushima momo (peaches) and ringo (apples); the girl mascot Hanagata Beni-Chan who wears a cherry-patterned kimono and hanagata flower hat and her hair resembles safflower; and Nebutan, an adorable pig dressed in the haneto costume worn at Aomori prefecture’s world-renowned Nebuta festival.

There are various regional presentations: a Da-te Busho-tai (samurai) performance; Aomori City’s Nebuta orchestra; dances from Sendai City (Suzume), Yamagata City (Hanagasa), and Morioka City (Sansa); and appearances by various festival pageant queens.. Many colorful decorative items referencing city-specific festivals will be on display throughout the venue, plus pictures of other Tohoku mascots, and photo panel exhibition of the region’s famous local festivals (Aomori Nebuta Festival, Akita Kanto Festival, Morioka Sansa-odori; Yamagata Hanagasa Festival; Sendai Tanabata Matsui; Fukushima Waraji Festival).

Visitors who purchase featured Tohoku products will be given mascot merchandise as gifts.