Seattle Kokon Taiko

Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival
2022-04-10 15:15 - 15:45 UTC | Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St, seattle, WA, 98109
Saturday 4/9: 11am-4pm
Sunday 4/10: 11am-4pm
Seattle Kokon Taiko will be performing Sunday at 3:15pm in the Armory at Seattle Center
http://www.cherryblossomfest.org/
Founded on a sunny afternoon on the warm grass of Seattle’s Seward Park on May 8, 1976, the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival was moved to the Seattle Center in 1978 and has grown to become a three-day celebration enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people over the decades.
Over the years, the award winning non-profit Festival remains a free, life-enriching experience. It is dedicated to increasing the understanding and friendship between the people of Japan and the Pacific Northwest. As a public service, the Festival presents culturally educational programs, arts, technologies, and the rich heritage of Japan. Join us in celebrating the beautiful sakura, cherry tree, and the culturally entertaining and education blossom it inspires each year: the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival. Long may it blossom in your heart!
Explore and experience the cultural roots and contemporary influences of Japan through live performances, visual arts, hands-on activities, foods and games including Taiko (Japanese drumming) and artisan demonstrations.

CIDBIA: Celebrate Year of the Tiger
2022-04-30 15:30 - 16:00 UTC | Hing Hay Park, 423 Maynard Ave. S, seattle, WA, 98104, United States
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Festival: 11am – 4pm
SKT Performance: 3:30pm
Seattle’s Chinatown-International District
2022 will be the Year of the Tiger. Our Lunar New Year Celebration is one of the largest events of its kind in the region and showcases diversity, richness and culture of the Asian community. The collaboration with other neighborhood businesses/organizations has helped draw thousands of visitors from throughout the region for a day of festivities. The celebration include traditional dragon and lion dances, martial arts, Japanese Taiko Drumming, and other cultural performances on the Main Stage. Combined with arts, crafts and a variety of family friendly activities there is something for everyone.

WAG Love Fest
2022-05-08 11:00 - 11:20 UTC | Marymoor Park, 6046 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy NE, Redmond, WA, 98052, United States
Help END DOG CANCER

WagLoveFest is an annual celebration of the wonderful dogs in our lives. It’s inspired by an ancient festival in Nepal where each dog is blessed and thanked.

Honk! Fest West
2022-06-05 13:00 - 13:30 UTC | Yesler Terrace Park, 903 Yester Way, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
HONK! is a celebration of community, collaboration and creative expression and is dedicated to creating a community of inclusion. HONK! is free to the public, and is a festival of street bands, featuring a diverse range of musical styles.

2022 Walk for Rice
2022-06-18 09:00 - 21:30 UTC | Jefferson Park, 3801 Beacon Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98108, United States
After a 2-year hiatus of in-person events, ACRS is having an in-person Walk for Rice event at Jefferson Park on June 18th!
Walk for Rice brings people together as a community to raise funds for the ACRS Food Bank and awareness about food insecurity in Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (ANHPI) communities. Since the first walk in 1990, Walk for Rice has raised over one million dollars to feed families and individuals experiencing hunger.

Hai! Japantown 2022
2022-08-13 14:00 - 14:30 UTC | chiyo’s garden, Seattle, WA, 98104, United States
Annual block party in Seattle’s Japantown returns in-person! Seattle Kokon Taiko will be performing in Chiyo’s Garden off Jackson between 6th Ave S and Maynard Ave S.

Indicator Species Project
2022-08-13 18:30 - 19:00 UTC | Mukai Farm & Garden, 18017 107th Ave SW, Vashon, WA, 98070, United States
The Indicator Species is Lelavision’s latest project, bringing community together around a large public artwork and featuring performances, science talks, and wellness experiences. Company co-founder and sculptor, Ela Lamblin, is building a 35 foot tall interactive, kinetic, and musical sculpture of a Plecoptera nymph, commonly known as a stonefly. Making a parallel between ecosystem health and communal well-being, and drawing on diverse connections within the arts, sciences, and wellness professions, event creator Leah Mann will curate and program live presentations surrounding the sculpture at the historic Mukai Farm and Garden. BIPOC presenters will appear during the free three day event. Dancers, musicians, poets, visual artists, scientists, recovery specialists, and wellness professionals will explore the intersections of environmental justice, social justice, and racial justice.

Kubota Garden Summer Thunder
2022-08-21 13:30 - 15:30 UTC | Kubota Garden, 9817 55th Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
Kubota Garden is having a summer 2022 taiko event!
Kubota Garden is a 20-acre Japanese garden in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. A public park since 1987, it was started in 1927 by Fujitaro Kubota, a Japanese emigrant. Today, it is maintained as a public park by the Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Kubota Garden Foundation.

2022 CIDBIA Night Market
2022-09-10 18:00 - 18:30 UTC | Hing Hay Park, 423 Maynard Ave. S, seattle, WA, 98104, United States
Explore arts, crafts, and retail vendors at the C-ID Night Market to discover new artists or support your favorite crafters. Find an array of small local artists and purchase a few unique pieces from them during the #cidnightmarket on 9/10 from 1-9pm in Seattle’s historic Chinatown-ID. This year’s arts & crafts line-up is the most impressive yet!

Japan Week at Bellevue College
2022-09-24 16:00 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Cir SE, Bellevue, WA, 98007, United States
Japan Week at Bellevue College
SKT Performance

Sept. 24 [Public Festival Day]
4:00pm – 4:30pmw
Bellevue College, Bldg. L Courtyard: 3000 Landerholm Cir SE, Bellevue, WA 98007

Event

Sept. 24 [Public Festival Day]
10:00am – 5:00pm
Bellevue College: 3000 Landerholm Cir SE, Bellevue, WA 98007

Experience the many facets of Japanese culture in one convenience location, including calligraphy, cosplay contest, ikebana displays, Japan market, Japan trivia contest, Japanese storytelling, karaoke, manga drawing workshop, martial arts demonstrations, mindfulness meditation, outdoor game of Go, photo booth, tea ceremony demonstration, and much more!

Event Schedule: https://studentweb.bellevuecollege.edu/japan-week/2022-community-day-schedule/
Free Parking: https://studentweb.bellevuecollege.edu/japan-week/parking/

FINDING HER BEAT Screening at the Seattle Queer Film Festival
2022-10-15 05:00 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, 98122, United States
Seattle Kokon Taiko is performing for the
FINDING HER BEAT Screening at the Seattle Queer Film Festival
Saturday, October 15, 2022
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Northwest Film Forum – 1
1515 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
Ticket Sales: https://rb.gy/zq4a6b

For thousands of years women have been locked out of Taiko drumming. Not anymore. In the dead of a Minnesota winter, Asian drumming divas smash gender roles and redefine power on their own terms. FINDING HER BEAT dives into the rhythms and struggles that lead to an electrifying historic performance that changes everything.

Mochi Tsuki Festival
2023-01-07 08:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Shanghai) | Woodward Middle School, 9125 Sportsman Club Rd NE, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110, United States
Date: Saturday, January 7, 2023
Time: TBD
Location: Woodward Middle School
9125 Sportsman Club Rd NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Event Website: https://www.bainbridgeisland.com/mochi-tsuki-festival/

For over a millennium, making and eating the sweet rice treat mochi (moe-chee) has been a celebrated New Year’s tradition in Japan, with generations of families and communities coming together to wish good health and prosperity for the new year.
Join the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) at the annual Mochi Tsuki Festival.
Highlights include performances from the acclaimed Seattle taiko drum group Kokon Taiko, a mochi making presentation, and a pictoral history of the award-winning exhibit “Kodomo No Tameni – For the sake of the children.”
BIJAC members will prepare some batches of mochi in the centuries-old method of first steaming the sweet rice over an open fire, then placing the cooked rice into a warm stone or concrete bowl called an usu. Using large wooden mallets, two people rhythmically pound the rice in the usu, while with bare hands a third person swiftly moves the rice between each mallet crash.
After several minutes of vigorous pounding, the rice becomes a thick, smooth dough – mochi. From manual pounding in the usu or special mochi-making appliances, the mochi is removed and children of all ages hand form the steaming-hot mochi into small handball-sized cakes, filling some of them with a sweet bean paste called ahn.
While arguably mochi is best eaten hot and fresh, many enjoy roasting it in the oven, then dipping the puffy and crisp hot mochi cakes into a combination of sugar and soy sauce. For future enjoyment, mochi can be frozen in airtight bags.
You can experience the tradition of mochi tsuki (moe–chee sue–key) or “mochi–making” first hand. Pound rice and make mochi cakes along with the mochi masters.
This event is free and no pre-registration is required.
Learn more at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community website.

Mochi Tsuki 2023
2023-01-07 12:00 - 14:30 UTC
Date: Saturday, January 7, 2023
Time: 12:00pm & 2:00pm SKT Performances
Location: Woodward Middle School
9125 Sportsman Club Rd NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Event Website: https://www.bainbridgeisland.com/mochi-tsuki-festival/

For over a millennium, making and eating the sweet rice treat mochi (moe-chee) has been a celebrated New Year’s tradition in Japan, with generations of families and communities coming together to wish good health and prosperity for the new year.
Join the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) at the annual Mochi Tsuki Festival.

This event is free and no pre-registration is required.

Paper tickets will be passed out for each taiko performance; 600 per show

CIDBIA Lunar New Year Celebration!
2023-02-04 15:30 - 16:00 UTC
****Taiko performance cancelled due to rain****

CIDBIA Lunar New Year Celebration!
https://www.seattlechinatownid.com/experiences/lunar-new-year
Welcome to the Year of the Rabbit. Vendor booths line the streets, dance performances and music throughout the main stage at Hing Hay Park!

02/04/23
3:30pm – 4pm
Hing Hay Park; 423 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104

PhinneyWood Lunar New Year!
2023-02-05 16:30 - 17:00 UTC
PhinneyWood Lunar New Year!
Event: shorturl.at/lmDJ2
This will be an inclusive, free, and diverse event for North Seattle that honors the traditions of the Asian cultures and supports local Asian-led businesses and orgs.
02/05/23 2pm–5pm
SKT: 4:30pm–5pm
6532 Phinney Ave N

2023 Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival
2023-04-16 16:00 - 16:30 UTC | Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St, seattle, WA, 98109
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Seattle Center – Armory Stage
305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109
Time: 4:00pm – 4:30pm
Come celebrate the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival! Each year they put on a weekend-long celebration of Japanese and Japanese-American culture.
Founded on a sunny afternoon on the warm grass of Seattle’s Seward Park on May 8, 1976, the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival was moved to the Seattle Center in 1978 and has grown to become a three-day celebration enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people over the decades.
Over the years, the award winning non-profit Festival remains a free, life-enriching experience. It is dedicated to increasing the understanding and friendship between the people of Japan and the Pacific Northwest. As a public service, the Festival presents culturally educational programs, arts, technologies, and the rich heritage of Japan. Join us in celebrating the beautiful sakura, cherry tree, and the culturally entertaining and education blossom it inspires each year: the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival. Long may it blossom in your heart!

2023 Shoreline Community Collect AANHPI Heritage Celebration
2023-05-24 19:30 - 20:00 UTC | Shoreline Community College, 16101 Greenwood Ave N, Shoreline, WA, 98133, United States
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
16101 Greenwood Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133 (West Gate)
Event: 6:30pm – 8:00pm
SKT Performance: 7:30pm – 8:00pm

Honk! Fest West
2023-06-04 15:40 - 16:00 UTC | Yesler Terrace Park, 903 Yester Way, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
HONK! Fest West is a yearly free, three-day, community-supported music festival in public spaces of the south Seattle area. This immersive festival is driven by the energetic performances of street bands from around the world. HONK! is part of a global renaissance of street band culture, with Seattle’s festival occurring since 2008.

ACRS Walk for Rice
2023-06-17 | Seward Park, 5900 Lake Washington Blvd. S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Seward Park
Event: 9:00am – 12:00pm
SKT Performance: TBD

The ACRS food bank provides culturally familiar foods to immigrants, refugees, elders, and families throughout King County. Without culturally competent food delivery, AAPI community members face a disproportionate lack of access to food, emergency meals, and other basic needs. Together, we can bring food and support to community members when they need it most.

To donate or register, visit: https://give.acrs.org/event/walk-for-rice-2023/e481850

Bainbridge Island Grand Old 4th of July Hometown Parade
2023-07-04 13:00 UTC
THE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND GRAND OLD 4TH OF JULY
Parade starts at 1:00pm
AN ISLAND TRADITION
As it has since 1967, Bainbridge Island will celebrate July 4th with multiple overlapping events taking over downtown Winslow and Waterfront Park from 7am until 5pm. Kicking off with the traditional Pancake Breakfast, the day will include the BYS Fun Run, Car Show, Street Fair, Kid’s Zone, Beer & Wine Garden, Live Music Stage, and of course, the mile-long Hometown Parade.
Just like in years past, we’re hoping for sun, expecting smiling faces, and we can absolutely promise a GREAT time for the whole family!

Japan Fair
2023-07-09 16:00 - 16:30 UTC | Maydenbauer Center, Bellevue, WA, 98004
Japan Fair is a free, two-day festival in Bellevue, WA across the lake from Seattle, that celebrates Japanese art and culture. Formerly known as “Aki Matsuri”, Japan Fair is a communal endeavor of musicians, artisans, community organizations, and businesses from both Japan and the U.S. who come together to share their products, talents, and knowledge of Japan. Through live performances on stage, hands on exhibits, cultural workshops, and vendor booths, the public is immersed in the music, dance, artisanry, and philosophy of Japan.

From Hiroshima to Hope
2023-08-06 06:45 - 18:45 UTC | Green Lake Park, 7312 West Green Lake Drive North, Seattle, WA, 98115, United States
The mission of From Hiroshima to Hope is to commemorate the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all victims of war and violence. We educate for peace, non-violent conflict resolution, and nuclear disarmament through a public outdoor event on August 6th featuring music, speakers, and a lantern-floating ceremony.

Every year since 1984, we have held an annual event in Seattle, with the hope that we can resolve international conflicts without violence and learn the habit of living in peace with all our neighbors on this earth.

Lynnwood Library Community Celebration
2023-08-12 14:00 - 14:30 UTC | Lynndale Park Amphitheater, 18927 72nd Ave W, Lynnwood, WA, 98036, United States
Lynnwood Library, part of the Sno-Isle Library System, is hosting a series of community celebrations!

Japan Festival Mukai Farm and Garden
2023-09-09 12:30 - 15:00 UTC | Mukai Farm & Garden, 18017 107th Ave SW, Vashon, WA, 98070, United States
https://mukaifarmandgarden.org/japan-festival-2023/
Mukai Farm & Garden’s 6th annual Vashon Japan Festival returns on Saturday, September 9th from 11-6pm. Come celebrate Vashon’s rich Japanese American history and enjoy cultural programming including Seattle Kokon Taiko drummers, Kendo Kai martial arts demonstration and our always popular nominoichi Japanese flea market.
Bring the family and enjoy delicious Japanese food and drink, drop by the Children’s Village and decorate koinobori ‘carp streamers’, dance the Soran Bushi and Bon Odori, and sing karaoke
Enjoy workshops including bonsai, haiku, calligraphy, taiko and kitsuke, the art of wearing the kimono. Join Vashon printmaker Annette Messitt of Old Dockton Press and create your own signature block print commemorating Japan Festival 2023.
Cap the day off with our final Ghiblifest screening of the summer, Miyazaki’s beautiful 2008 adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” – Ponyo. And don’t forget to bring your koinobori!

Luminata 2023
2023-09-20 19:30 - 22:00 UTC | Green Lake Park, 7312 West Green Lake Drive North, Seattle, WA, 98115, United States
The Fremont Arts Council celebrates the autumnal equinox with our illuminated lantern parade around Green Lake!
Settle Kokon Taiko opens the event at the dock at 7:30pm
The lantern shop will open at 5:30 PM on Saturday September 23rd. You can purchase lanterns, with all proceeds benefiting the Fremont Arts Council, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The procession will begin at 7:30 PM following the lead band around Green Lake. At the end of the parade, some illuminated art will be on display for your enjoyment!

Japan Week @ Bellevue College
2023-09-30 10:00 - 17:00 UTC | Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Cir SE, Bellevue, WA, 98007, United States
Join us at the 7th Annual Japan Week at Bellevue College.
This is the first fully in-person event since 2019.

Come see SKT perform at 1:15pm
Stay for Japanese cultural events, activities and demonstrations, including:

Arts and crafts
Traditional culture
Pop culture
Fashion and design
Films
Food
History
Holiday and festivals
Home and garden
Martial arts and sports
Music and dance
Story time
Toys and games
Travel

Branch Out at the Pacific Bonsai Museum
2023-10-01 13:00 - 15:00 UTC | Pacific Bonsai Museum, 2515 South 336th Street, Federal Way, WA, 98003, United States
The Pacific Bonsai Museum’s Board of Directors invites you to a fun and festive afternoon in support of Pacific Bonsai Museum in an unparalleled location. Enjoy stunning bonsai, hear live entertainment, cheers to friends with delicious bites & libations, and participate in a stirring paddle raise, all in celebration of the first 34 years of Pacific Bonsai Museum’s collection.
Event Registration: https://pacificbonsaimuseum.org/events/branch-out-2023/

Mochtsuki 2024
2024-01-06 11:45 - 14:00 UTC | Woodward Middle School, 9125 Sportsman Club Rd NE, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110, United States
For over a millennium, making and eating the sweet rice treat mochi (moe-chee) has been a celebrated New Year’s tradition in Japan, with generations of families and communities coming together to wish good health and prosperity for the new year.
Join the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) at the annual Mochi Tsuki Festival.
Highlights include performances from the acclaimed Seattle taiko drum group Kokon Taiko, a mochi making presentation, and a pictoral history of the award-winning exhibit “Kodomo No Tameni – For the sake of the children.”
BIJAC members will prepare some batches of mochi in the centuries-old method of first steaming the sweet rice over an open fire, then placing the cooked rice into a warm stone or concrete bowl called an usu. Using large wooden mallets, two people rhythmically pound the rice in the usu, while with bare hands a third person swiftly moves the rice between each mallet crash.
After several minutes of vigorous pounding, the rice becomes a thick, smooth dough – mochi. From manual pounding in the usu or special mochi-making appliances, the mochi is removed and children of all ages hand form the steaming-hot mochi into small handball-sized cakes, filling some of them with a sweet bean paste called ahn.
While arguably mochi is best eaten hot and fresh, many enjoy roasting it in the oven, then dipping the puffy and crisp hot mochi cakes into a combination of sugar and soy sauce. For future enjoyment, mochi can be frozen in airtight bags.
You can experience the tradition of mochi tsuki (moe–chee sue–key) or “mochi–making” first hand. Pound rice and make mochi cakes along with the mochi masters.
This event is free and no pre-registration is required.
Learn more at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community website.

Lunar New Year Celebration @ North Seattle College
2024-02-07 12:30 - 13:00 UTC | The Grove at North Seattle College, 9600 College Way N, Seattle, WA, 98103, United States
Happy Lunar New Year!!!
Come celebrate The Year of the Dragon with us at North Seattle College

Lunar New Year Celebration with the Phinney Neighborhood Association
2024-02-10 15:30 - 16:00 UTC | Phinney Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, 98103, United States
Happy Lunar New Year!!!
Come celebrate The Year of the Dragon with us at Phinney Center!

This FREE neighborhood event runs from 1pm – 4pm
It will be an inclusive and diverse new event for North Seattle that honors the traditions of the Asian cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year and supports local Asian-led businesses and organizations. Our current PhinneyWood Lunar New Year plans include:

Lantern making at the Phinney Center from 1-4 pm
LQ Lion Dance performance at 2 pm
Seattle Kokon Taiko performance at 3:30 pm

As a tradition, consider bringing cash to fill red envelopes for donations. Your contributions support the event and bring good fortune for the upcoming year.
