{"id":22159,"date":"2023-08-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22159"},"modified":"2023-08-08T06:41:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T06:41:43","slug":"bon-odori-festival-draws-about-20000-people-to-camp-zama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22159","title":{"rendered":"Bon Odori festival draws about 20,000 people to Camp Zama"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Kiera White, who will attend ninth grade at Zama Middle High School, dances around the bon tower during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Bon Odori festival attendees perform a traditional dance atop the bon tower at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Bon Odori festival attendees dance on and around a bon tower at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Bon Odori festival attendees perform a traditional dance at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n A Japanese taiko drum group performs during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n A pair of Japanese girls dressed in yukatas attend the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n The Sonz of Soul band performs during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 With she and her family all dressed in traditional Japanese \u201cyukata\u201d robes, Susan McGregory said they chose to embrace the culture while at the Bon Odori festival for the first time here Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not every day military families get to come to Japan,\u201d she said, \u201cso while we\u2019re here we want to experience as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The McGregory family was among the roughly 20,000 people who attended the Japanese festival, a tradition that has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.<\/p>\n

The event, which was held at Yano and Rambler fields, included live entertainment and bon folk dancing, vendors serving American and Japanese food, children\u2019s games, military static displays, and fireworks.<\/p>\n

As the family walked around to see the attractions, Susan\u2019s husband, Capt. Justin McGregory, the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion chaplain, said the event would be a memorable one for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve taken a lot of photos,\u201d he said, \u201cand we hope that this will be an experience that we never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bon Odori dates back more than 500 years and is a Japanese Buddhist custom that honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. To mark the occasion, many communities across the country set up bon towers, which revelers dance on and around to the tune of various folk songs.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison Japan organized the festival alongside its Japanese partners at Camp Zama, the only installation in Japan shared by the U.S. Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.<\/p>\n

As he kicked off the bon dancing, Col. Marcus Hunter, garrison commander, expressed gratitude to the crowd, which included thousands of Japanese guests, for turning the event into a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for letting us celebrate such an important part of your culture and being able to share in your rich history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged the hard work of those behind-the-scenes who made it possible for the installation to hold the festival, its largest open-post event of the year.<\/p>\n

Hunter went on to recognize Kiyomi\u00a0Shimizu, chairperson of the\u00a0Zama City Women\u2019s Association, and volunteers from the association for helping community members learn the bon dances.<\/p>\n

Two of those volunteers, Toyoko\u00a0Akutagawa and Masako\u00a0Kawasaki, have volunteered for over 50 and 20 years, respectively, to prepare American personnel and their families for the festival, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust think of the thousands of people you\u2019ve impacted over those decades with your volunteerism,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Japanese guests try some pizza during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Japanese guests enjoy a children’s attraction during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Spc. Alexis Washington, center, an information technology specialist for U.S. Army Japan\u2019s G-6 office, and her friend, Princess Fortune, a military spouse, purchase balloons for their 1-year-old daughters, Sofia and Ivory, respectively, during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023.
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\n Children enjoy an attraction during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n A Japanese “kendo” team, which translates to “the way of the sword,” demonstrates its skills during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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\n Bon Odori festival attendees enjoy a fireworks show at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional Japanese festival has been celebrated at Camp Zama since 1959.
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Earlier in the day, Princess Fortune, a military spouse, and her friend, Spc. Alexis Washington, an information technology specialist for U.S. Army Japan\u2019s G-6 office, walked around with their daughters who wore \u201cjinbei\u201d attire, a traditional outfit with shorts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our first time [at this event], so we just wanted to get her involved in Japanese culture,\u201d Fortune said of her 1-year-old daughter, Ivory.<\/p>\n

Dressed in a yukata, Washington held her daughter, Sofia, 1, in her arms and said the open-post event was a unique experience for her family, who has also explored areas outside the gates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Japan,\u201d said Washington, who arrived here less than a year ago. \u201cIt\u2019s really peaceful and it\u2019s safe for my daughter, so I enjoy it a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bilateral festival also provided Japanese guests an opportunity to immerse themselves in an American environment.<\/p>\n

Wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, Shota Ogino said he was impressed with the size of the installation and appreciated the chance to view it in person.<\/p>\n

His wife, Chinatsu, said they and their two boys, ages 1 and 3, recently moved to Zama City, and her friends had told her to check out the on-post festival.<\/p>\n

Shota said he and his wife looked forward to the event, since they had previously visited Hawaii and enjoyed learning about the American way of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe liked the American culture, so we wanted to come and see the culture again,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Col. Kenji Honda, commander of the 4th Engineer Group and JGSDF Camp Zama, said the festival continued to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance.<\/p>\n

He then asked the visitors to celebrate with their American friends as they danced at the red- and white-striped bon tower at Rambler Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be good partners, it is important to understand each other\u2019s cultures and customs,\u201d Honda told the crowd. \u201cAnd tonight\u2019s bon dance, which is a traditional Japanese summer event, is a great opportunity to enhance that understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison Japan news<\/a><\/p>\n

USAG Japan official website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Kiera White, who will attend ninth grade at Zama Middle High School, dances around the bon tower during the Bon Odori festival at Camp Zama, Japan, Aug. 5, 2023. About 20,000 people attended this year’s event, which honors the departed spirits of one\u2019s ancestors. The traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22161,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22159"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22175,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22159\/revisions\/22175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}