Japanese Autumn Festival a Success

The Carolinian Utt grounds in Garapan was jam-packed last Saturday evening with the return of the 2023 Japanese Autumn Festival—the first time the festival has returned to an in-person celebration since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As has become tradition since the festival’s inception, the opening ceremony was highlighted by the breaking of the seal on a barrel of the Japanese drink “sake” and the distribution of the beverage to guests.

The celebration itself was filled with Japanese food from vendor stalls like the Kinpachi and Himawari restaurants, to Japanese games, and performances from Saipan Awaodori Team, Katori Shrine maidens, and KouDou Tsugami.

In the spirit of celebration, several who attended the event even wore Japanese garb.

One such character, wearing a Japanese Matsuri, was a 1-year-old pitbull named Katsu. Her owner, Julia Espino, who was accompanied by her boyfriend, Jay Santos, said the night’s turnout was “pretty good.”

“I love the location that they chose. We just arrived so the food is good. … I think its very affordable, there’s a lot of people here, and Katsu is having such a great time seeing so many people,” Espino said, adding that she believes events like this are important.

“I think it’s very important to infuse different cultures within community events of the year. …We’re just like a melting pot of people here in the CNMI and it’s such a blessing to be able to celebrate different cultures,” she said.

As for Katsu’s outfit Espino said they actually got his costume from Japan. “We were…looking forward to the Japanese autumn festival that happens every year, so we decided to buy this costume for him. …It’s very rare for us to find extra-large clothes, so we decided to buy it for him so he could be really festive at this event,” she added.

Another person whose outfit also stuck out was Mt. Carmel Student Wayne Ano. He shared that he and his grandfather worked together to make the costume, which is tailored after an anime demon slayer.

When asked what he thought about the event, he said, “I’ve been enjoying it so far because of how people are able to celebrate their differences, which honestly kind of warms me up. And it’s also a sign of cultural appreciation. We get to enjoy other activities that other countries have invented. All their events, their history, stuff like that with these games, the food, things like that.”

Along with a visiting delegation from Japan, Mayor Tomonori Ito of Katori City, a Japanese sister city of Saipan, joined the festival host, the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, for the events that night. Toward the end of the night, Ito also gave a performance for the crowd, doing a balloon art routine.

Ito later explained that he came to Saipan as part of his city’s sister city relationship the Saipan. He said that Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho visited Katori City in July “to celebrate our festival so we’re really excited to be able to come here to celebrate the festival in Saipan this time.”

Since coming to the CNMI, Ito said that everybody has been “so friendly and its amazing to see…how we’re able to have this relationship and see all of this.”