Explore the culture and cuisine of Japan, with this installment of The NWLA Cultural Center’s Language of Food Series. The festival looks at the past and current lifestyles in Japan through a celebration of its art, culture and food.The event highlights include a cooking class in the afternoon run by Chef Kotaro Kumita, followed by a traditional Japanese dinner.
The afternoon cooking class, from 2:00pm-5:00pm, will demonstrate the techniques of sushi and other traditional favorites. The class will be led by Chef Kotaro Kumita, a disciple of Seattle sushi deity Shiro Kashiba—founder of the iconic restaurant Shiro’s Sushi.
Chef Kotaro will prepare a traditional Japanese dinner for the evening event, served family style on NWLA’s garden terrace. Guests will enjoy appetizers, sake, and Japanese beer as they take in the festive atmosphere of the event, including koto and shakuhachi music, and a performance by the Sound Singers Japanese Chorus. Kimonos and Japanese quilts and fiber arts will be on display, and guests are invited to mingle with the artists, ask questions, and learn to put on a kimono themselves!
NWLA is delighted to welcome Mary Ohno and the members of the Kabuki Academy Performance Troupe for a performance of Japanese classical dance and the Kabuki arts. Ms. Ohno, thr group’s founder, has studied classical Japanese dance for 50 years, and earned the title of “Hanayagi Fumiryu” in 1966. She and the troupe have performed at the Nippon-Kan Theater, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Berklee College of Music, among other places.
Guests will also be treated to a performance by One World Taiko, a professional ensemble that presents a contemporary style of Japanese drumming. Combining original choreography and arrangements with rhythms drawn from Japan’s ancient tradition of festival drumming, the performance will incorporate dynamic movement, lyrical melodies, and heart-pounding percussion.
The event will be held at the NWLA Cultural Center in Langley, on Whidbey Island. Overnight accommodations are available in the Cultural Center’s luxurious Guesthouse.
Reserve early at 360-321-2101 or info@nwlanguageacademy.com. To learn more about NWLA and upcoming programs or classes, visit www.nwlanguageacademy.com.