28th Japanese Fall Festival held this weekend in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The 28th Annual Japanese Fall Festival starts today and runs through Sunday.

Held at the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden in Nathaniel Greene Park, the Springfield Sister Cities Association hosts the festival to celebrate the relationship between Springfield and its Japanese sister city, Isesaki.

“It’s just a way to provide cultural exchanges, cultural, understand cultural opportunities,” said Lisa Bakerink, director of the Springfield Sister Cities Association. “But the most important thing is to meet people from other cultures and to make friends. We exist to provide opportunities for people, to make friendships with people from other cultures.”

There will be live performances, food and drink vendors and hands-on workshops highlighting Japanese culture.

“One of the things I love about this event is it is very happy,” Bakerink said. “And we even have our performers that come back year after year. So they just love coming here because Springfield is such a welcoming place and the event is a happy place to be.”

One of this year’s scheduled workshops is wagashi, which is the art of creating sweet bean desserts for the traditional tea ceremony. Instructor Noriyuki Kamiyama is a master of wagashi and his family has practiced the art for 130 years.

A change has been made to the traffic flow in and out of Nathaniel Greene Park. Cars will only be allowed to turn right into the park from Battlefield and can only turn right toward Sunshine when exiting – no left turns will be allowed.

The Japanese Fall Festival is open from 5-10 p.m. today (Sept. 6), from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Admission starts at $9 for adults and $4 for children ages three to 12, and is only available at the gate.

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