Japanese Children's Day Festival in Tucson Arizona

One of my 2022 goals for the year is to get out more and enjoy Arizona. Since the pandemic, we spend too much time in the house, so we’re on the look out for fun activities we can enjoy locally. I stumbled upon advertising for the Japanese Children’s Day Festival in Tucson Arizona at Yume Gardens, and we thought it would be a fun event to go to. We weren’t wrong.

About the Japanese Children’s Day Festival in Tucson

Children’s Day in Japan is on May 5th and celebrates the growth and happiness of children. The event we attended was on Mother’s Day and included many fun activities and foods.

The Activities

We spent about two hours at the festival enjoying several different activities including:

Origami Making

Our kids have made a lot of origami over the years, so they didn’t learn anything new here, but they did have fun. Plus, the origami station had fans blowing, which felt great in the heat.

Japanese Flower Arranging (Ikebana)

This was our first time learning ikebana.

I thought the girls made beautiful flower arrangements.

Watching Taiko Drumming

My mother-in-law is a taiko drummer, and we love listening to the music. Odaiko Sonora gave the performance at the Japanese Children’s Day Festival in Tucson, and it was a delight to listen to, especially since they gave some cultural information between songs.

Enjoying Paper Play Storytelling (Kamishibai)

Another event, which was more for smaller children, was paper play storytelling. The narrator sits behind a wooden box and tells a story, occasionally changing the pictures the audience sees, much like turning the pages of a book. The story we listened to was Issun Boshi, the story of a one inch boy. The girls remembered my husband reading them that story when they were little.