Mamemaki 2019 17 January 2019

Coming up on Friday, February 1st is the annual Kindergarten Mamemaki.

Mamemaki is a Japanese custom usually performed as a family to invite in good luck and drive away evil spirits for the year. ‘Good luck’ beans are thrown at ‘evil spirits’ – people wearing Oni (demon or ogre) masks. Middle school students will act as ‘Oni.’ Our kindergarten students will be encouraged to drive them away. I encourage those of you who are not familiar with this part of Japanese culture to take the time to read up about it and gain a better understanding of the traditions of Japan.

Kindergarten children have already started activities related to this event. In class students are learning about this Japanese event through reading, discussing, and doing crafts. They are also learning special songs, which are part of the Mamemaki ritual and related to the Oni character. In Japanese class and art class, they are currently working on masks and decorating cups in preparation for the traditional ‘bean throwing(Mamemaki)’ activity’.

On Friday, February 1st Kindergarten Mamemaki will be conducted at the following time for each class: 
K5 class: 9:00am – 9:40am
K4 class: 9:45am – 10:25am
K3class: 10:30am -11:10am

We kindly welcome all parents to come and watch this year’s Mamemaki event!

We are accepting applications