For the second year, the Kurakake Company presented Matsuri, an annual summer festival held at Yonge-Dundas Square on Sunday, July 27, 2014. Matsuri this year was bigger and better than the previous year with more Japanese community organizations and companies participating in the celebration of Japanese culture.
JETAA was one of the participating vendors alongside the Consul-General of Japan to Toronto, teaming up to share a booth at the festival. Visitors could inquire at the booth about working and studying in Japan with the JET Programme and MEXT Scholarship. For the second year, the infamous wasabi-pea challenge returned, and had visitors lined up to try their hands at the tricky game.
Throughout the day many activities and demonstrations lined the front stage, including Yasakoi dancers, Isshin Daiko and a fashion show. The Consul-General also performed an Interactive Dance in the early evening. As the crowd at that point was too large to do a flash mob, the group did a great job at trying to incorporate those watching to join in the dance.
Last but not least, the food at Matsuri this year was delicious and extremely popular, with many of the Japanese Izakayas in Toronto cooking up a storm with their grilled chicken, squid, kakigori, and other festival fare. Hopefully next year, they can expand more and include yakisoba, the one matsuri food that was seemingly missing.
