SAN FRANCISCO — The 52nd annual Oshogatsu Matsuri will be held on Saturday, Jan. 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. in San Francisco Japantown,to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. Entry is free.
The goals of the festival are to bring together community members for a homegrown Japanese American version of the New Year’s celebration, to create a multi-generational celebration, and to pass that sense of community spirit on to young people. Each year the festival features cultural arts and crafts activities for children, entertainment, mochitsuki, screen printing of original designs for T-shirts, shikishi art, a children’s art contest for children in pre-school through 5th grade, and food for sale.
The festival is sponsored by API Legal Outreach (www.apilegaloutreach.org), JCCCNC (www.jcccnc.org), Japanese Community Youth Council (www.jcyc.org) and Hamilton Senior Center. It is organized by volunteers involved in Japanese American community service organizations and community members who want to preserve this important cultural tradition. Participating groups include Kimochi Senior Services, Nihonmachi Little Friends, Japanese Bilingual/Bicultural Program, San Francisco JACL, and National Japanese American Historical Society.
The deadline for the art contest is Jan. 2. For more information, contact Matt Okada at (415) 567-5505.