Japan Festival Wellington

Seventy VIPs will sip green tea in a toast to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties at the launch of the Japan Festival Wellington on Saturday June 18.

Guest of Honour at the special Japanese tea ceremony will be the Governor-General, The Rt Hon. Dame Cindy Kiro GNZM, QSO, who will officially open the Festival at the TSB Arena and Shed Six.

Members of the public will also be offered tea during the opening of the free event which runs from 11am to 6.30pm.

The free Festival will feature entertainment, exhibitions, displays, workshops on taiko drumming and sashiko stitchwork, and a Japanese Food Hall in Shed Six. Five well known New Zealand potters will exhibit their Japanese-inspired tea bowls.

Highlights include perfomances by J-Pop group Sleepwalk Skeleton from Auckland, and a live on-stage drawing of Yokai (Japanese supernatural monsters) by Japanese artist and illustrator Jun Arita.

“As we are coming up to Matariki and to Tanabata, Japan’s Star Festival, we’ll also have Tanabata Wishing Trees around the venue for visitors to make their own wishes for the year ahead,” said Wellington Japan Festival Trust chair Jennifer King.

Wellington schools have also been hard at work on the Festival. As well as creating two Giant Kimono, the Festival will exhibit banners made by schools on the theme of the Tanabata Festival Matariki.

The 2022 Japan Festival is organised by the Wellington Japan Festival Trust with Wellington City Council and the Embassy of Japan.

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