JAPAN MATSURI 2018

Sunday 30 September 2018 | 10am-8pm
Trafalgar Square, London

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Japan Matsuri, and Trafalgar Square will once again host a whole day of Japanese cultural activities and performances, whilst around the square there will be an exciting array of stalls and Japanese street food vendors. The festival is free to attend and suitable for all ages, and takes place between 10am and 8pm on Sunday 30th September.

The word matsuri in Japanese can be translated as meaning ‘festival’, and this event truly is a festival of all things Japanese. Look out for the mikoshi, a portable shrine which will be ceremonially carried around the square in true matsuri fashion, or perhaps take part in Awa Odori, one of Japan’s biggest dance festivals, which will be brought to Trafalgar Square this year.

The stage will also host a diverse range of contemporary and traditional performance arts from Japan, from folk music to contemporary dance pieces that blur the boundaries between western ballet and classical noh theatre. There’ll be opportunities to take part in Japan’s revered Radio Taiso exercises, which will be led by gold medal winning Paralympian athlete Noel Thatcher. You can also expect taiko drums to roar around the square, as Joji Hirota and the London Taiko Drummers return to the festival this year.

Amongst the range of performances you can expect throughout the day, NHK WORLD-JAPAN will present an exciting ninja show by The Ashura, a special performance group of Iga-Ryu ninja. Ninja are one of the most instantly recognisable cultural icons from Japan, and in this performance the techniques of the ninja will be expertly demonstrated. There will also be Q&A session and a meet and greet with The Ashura at the NHK WORLD-JAPAN stall after the stage performances, so now is your chance to find out anything you wanted to know about ninja!

If the ninja performance inspires you to discover more about Japanese martial arts, you will also be able to visit the Martial Arts Stage where you can watch demonstrations by clubs across multiple disciplines. There will also be opportunities to explore your creative side, with Japanese calligraphy, origami and manga workshops taking place throughout the day.

For more information about the festival, please visit the Japan Matsuri website.