When East Meets West in Naperville

More than 8,000 miles separate Naperville and Japan.

But that didn’t stop Japanese culture from being front and center Tuesday night at North Central College. The annual Japanese Festival featured the nation's culture through arts and activities, like calligraphy, origami, video games and Japanese food.

Vivian Trineo, of Lisle,brought her third-grade daughter to the event. She was impressed with the variety of events offered. Trineo said she tries to expose her daughter to other cultures and found the event to be helpful in this goal.

“We try to do cultural activities,” Trineo said. “[My daughter’s] learning
about Japan right now in school. This is helping her learning.”

While many people enjoyed cultural crafts, the highlight of the night for most was the multiple live demonstrations.

Brian Hoffert,  an associate professor of history and religious studies at North Central College, is teaching a class in Japanese religions this semester.

The event offered Hoffert the chance to watch kendo live for the first time at the Japanese Festival. Kendo, is a modern form of Japanese swordfighting, based on the samurai tradition.

“I’ve never been this close to a Kendo match,” Hoffert said. “I was so close to the hitting.”

Some audience members sat only a few feet away from the live demonstration.

Candace Lech, 60, of Elmhurst was one of those members. She was so close that her grandchild began crying after the first part of the demonstration; a large crashing sound surprised the youngster as a wooden sword struck its opponent.   

Lech enjoyed the demonstration because her son was one of the  participants. It was her first time seeing her son practicing kendo, which means "way of the sword." But Lech also enjoyed the final demonstration of the night — kyudo, Japanese archery.

“It was amazing,” Lech said. “The self-control in that was amazing. And it was like a whisper. I was expecting more noise.”

Yasuo Ito, a physics professor at Northern Illinois University, shared the kyudo demo.  Ito stood only a few meters away from a target no wider than a watermelon. He slowly rose from the ground, shooting the arrow into the target. It took only a few feet for the arrow to come to a complete rest.

Ito has been practicing the art for eight years, which he said is a short amount of time. This is the third year he has participated. Ito said he comes back every year because he hopes to pass down the art to future generations.

“Whoever comes here with an open mind I may just be able to touch a little bit,” Ito said. “If they can pass this art down to their children then it stays alive. For me, sharing is the most important part.”

Aaron Soderberg, 24, of Arlington Heights shares Ito’s sentiment. An alumnus of North Central College, he returned to volunteer at this year’s event. He hopes those who attended the event leave with an increased knowledge of the world.

“I just love that people are expanding their knowledge of the world,” Soderberg said. “Some people know their neighborhood but they don’t get to experience the world. For North Central to provide this and show other cultures, is great.”