Kansas City Japan Festival

Great festival in Kansas! Love that we have one here and only wish it was longer! It is 1 day only so don't miss it! They have delicious Japanese foods and desserts, entertainment, demos, crafts, and more! A very unique experience in the Midwest!

I went there as a volunteer for a candy artist workshop in the morning and the kimono demonstration/presentation on the Japanese war bride workshop in the afternoon. The festival was amazingly well presented. So many fun workshops, booths and exhibitions. They invited lots of Japanese people from different states and even have performers/singers fly from Japan just to make this festival happen. On the third floor, there are Anime related booths, and they also have cosplay competition. It was really fun! As a volunteer, they gave volunteers free admission. And I have to be honest, they don't really organize the volunteers that much. After I signed up, I didn't get any information until 4days prior to the event. And there was no orientations. They ask you to be there and then you will get the missions depending on the workshops you signed up. Also it was all going with the flow. One thing I was concerned was that they didn't provide the orientation about the emergencies since they would expect herds to be in the building. The other festival I volunteered requested that we volunteer watch the videos about how to react to emergencies (like gunshots, chaos things...) Yet in their brochure they said the people wearing vest would know answers for their questions. That is not true, at least I don't know the building, I couldn't find the food court unless I ask the information desk, and I don't even know what would be expected for the workshop volunteer to help. Overall, I would still highly recommend to go to this Japan festival if there is one next year. I will definitely be there again. But maybe just join as the attendee but not a volunteer.

Since moving to the middle of the country from a state where Asians make up about 30% of the population and no one race has a clear majority, I have been experiencing quite a bit of culture shock. So I was thrilled and excited to learn about the Kansas City Japan Festival. I give kudos to any group that sets out to educate others about a different culture, especially one half way around the world. That being said, I give the Kansas City Japan Festival five stars for intention and one star for execution. The festival was held at JCCC on October 8, 2022 from 10 am - 7 pm. I went a little after noon. I haven't seen a parking madhouse like that since I left Hawaii and it went down hill from there. Upon entering the facility it was a massive crowd of people. Apparently festival's purchasing system went down and they couldn't process ticket sales except with cash. The volunteers looked out of their depth as they tried to handle the crowds. I pre-purchased my tickets so all I needed to do was get the wrist band that was supposedly needed for all of the events. I was directed up and then back down the stairs for the wrist band. It was wall to wall people all trying to find their way around or trying to figure out how to get tickets. Plus, I saw quite a few coming in from side doors, without the wristbands and just going about the festival too. No security of note. Very few signs directing where demonstrations, events, and booths were located. JCCC also appears to have only one central elevator, which was constantly packed. There was one other I found off the the side but it didn't go to all floors. This is not a handicap friendly building. As crowded as it was I think the people organizing this festival should consider running it over two days and invest in better signage and security. They can set up the morning of the first day and tear down after the second. Have security people keeping order and volunteers prepared so they know where things are located. A better map in the booklet would help too. There was a tiny booth that supposedly had Japanese snacks and beverages. Everything there looked like it could be ordered off of Amazon. Long's Drugs back home has a wider variety of more authentic Japanese products. I never got anywhere near the food vendors. All of the lines were super long and by the time I actually found the area with the food, I was over it. Looking at the pictures of the food in festival booklet, I don't think I missed anything special. Especially when one of the items was called, "Chicken Satay" and another was "Noodle Bowl". It was $15 per adult to get in (unless you snuck in from the back or just got fed up trying to buy a ticket and walked in without paying). I won't be going again. As my father-in-law would say, "Lose money".

This was such a fun festival! For this year, it was located at the Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College. The venue was well-suited for this event. In addition, it was organized and the volunteers were quite helpful. We arrived at opening which was 10:00 AM. The event lasted until 7:00 PM. There was ample parking but the closer spots went quickly. There are plenty of activities for kids and adults, workshops (language, origami, and calligraphy), demonstrations (the live candy artist was popular), exhibitions, and performances. Our favorite demonstration was the traditional tea ceremony. There was also a small bazaar, artwork booths, Japanese snacks and beverages, and a food court area that had items such as egg rolls, sushi, Boba tea, chicken satay, takoyaki, taiyaki, and noodle/veggie bowls. It was a wonderful experience. Definitely recommend the event to anyone wanting to learn about Japanese culture or just to have a nice day out with friends and family.

The Kansas City Japan Festival is one of the most organized events I have ever attended. I was so excited to find out about this festival that I had it on my calendar long before I moved to Kansas late this summer. Tickets were available for advance purchase online ($10 for adults).Last year I attended the Aki Matsuri Festival in Las Vegas, which was an outdoor Japanese festival in the parking lot of the Rio Hotel. This festival trumped that one by a long way - the web site for KC's Fest was so detailed, with a schedule of every performance, activity, lecture, exhibition, and food court.I arrived at the festival at around 2:30. It was open from 10 AM to 7:30 PM. The nucleus of the fest was in Johnson County Community College's Overland Park campus Carlsen Center. We picked up wristbands at will call and were given a detailed booklet with schedules, maps, descriptions, and bios.We started in the exhibition of samurai armor, kimonos, and dolls. Then we happened upon the "bazaar," a series of rooms with items for sale. Then, we found a room where anyone could dress in a kimono ($5) or samurai costume ($15) and get a 4x6 photo. I had longed for a geisha makeover when I visited Kyoto in 2012, but ran out of time. That process takes hours and includes make-up application. This one was low-tech - but I had a few Japanese women fit me in a kimono I selected from a rack, then they added the obi and other elements, including a hair clip. Eric R. was able to take photos of me before I took the real one with a photographer. The backdrop was a bamboo wall. I was given a physical photo to take with me, and the process was relatively quick. I really enjoyed this activity.There were booths in the lobbies of several floors in the building, including travel agencies, taiko drum companies, Japanese sweets, Japanese language programs from different colleges, opportunities to teach English in Japan, bonsai and ikebana displays, and a mini snack store operated by Oriental Supermarket.Eric R. and I made out way to the Regnier Center for the food court, where we were given a separate handout with a map of the restaurants and their menus. These included the JCCC dining services, Nara, Kaiyo, Siki, and Sama Zama. This was cash only, and we were low on cash. That meant we only had a small amount to spend. We tried the daikon maki from Siki and the takoyaki from Nara.Then, it was back to the Carlsen Center for martial arts demonstrations (we saw sumo, aikido, and cutting techniques with swords), a samurai historical presentation, and to conclude, a tea ceremony demonstration. I was very intrigued with everything offered. If we had come earlier, we could have seen so much more and participated in classes like calligraphy and Japanese conversation. I did learn about Bimi Bakery, a future Japanese bakery that will open in Lawrence. I highly recommend attending this festival next year!

Saturday was my first time at the KC Japan festival, and I really enjoyed it. The festival is packed with demonstrations, workshops, and performances of all types, ranging from sword fighting and sumo wrestling, to Japanese pop music. The entire third floor was dedicated to cosplay and anime, so there were definitely some interesting costumes to see. It was all very entertaining and incredibly educational. I took my twelve year old to the festival with me, and it was a fantastic experience for her. I highly recommend the festival for older kids. The food....whoa! We had delish sushi from NARA and some "eggcellent" egg rolls from the JCCC culinary school. We stayed for a few hours, and when we got in the car, my daughter said she was sad it was over, and she definitely wanted to attend the festival next year. It was an awesome experience overall!