The multi-purpose room at Richmond secondary was packed on the afternoon of Nov. 28, as 125 students came to check out the 13th Annual Japan Fair, hosted by the Japanese program and the 50-member RHS Japan Club.
The atmosphere was lively and the noise level high as students played traditional Japanese games, such as Japanese Go and Chopsticks Wars, practised flower arrangement and studied Japanese calligraphy and kirigami.
The fair is modeled after a Japanese cultural festival that occurs annually at most Japanese high schools, said Lisa Yasui, who teaches Japanese to 90 students in Grades nine through 12. Yasui, who has been at the helm of the Japanese program at Richmond secondary since 2002, also heads the 50-member Japan Club. The club’s focus changes depending on what its members are interested in doing from one year to the next. This year, the club members were cooking, and doing arts and crafts, she said.
The school’s Japan Fair included booths with games, displays, demonstrations and performances, with each class responsible for putting together a display or booth. Japanese students in Grades 11 and 12 conducted demonstrations or performances, and the Mario and Luigi performance by the Grade 12 students was warmly received.
Yasui said admission was $2, but students received the money back in games tickets to spend at the fair. “It’s not an admission fee, just a way for me to gauge attendance ahead of time,” she said. She’d sold 125 tickets well before the fair began and was anticipating the usual high attendance by Richmond secondary students, particularly among students who don’t take Japanese classes and aren’t in the Japan Club, she added.
