Manjiro Festival ready to drum up some fun

By Stephen L. Cabral, Standard-Times correspondent

Don't be alarmed if the spires and steeples in Fairhaven Center begin to shake and rumble Saturday morning. That will be the echo from the Taiko drums of the Odaiko New England ensemble, opening the Eighth Manjiro Festival at the Fairhaven Town Hall Square.

"The Taiko drummers will set the tone and spirit for this very special observance of the Manjiro Festival," stated event chairman Gerry Rooney. "We anticipate an upbeat gathering in the spirit of peace, tolerance and mutual aid. Our sister city, Tosashimizu, is also struggling with disaster."

Several members of the Fairhaven/New Bedford-Tosashimizu Sister City Committee have received messages of concern and consolation from their counterparts in Japan regarding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The mayor, who is coping with a natural disaster at home, expressed his deepest regrets to the American people.

On Sept. 6, torrential rains flooded and buried Tosashimizu with landslides. The local rice crop was decimated, homes and schools damaged, roads and bridges washed out and the city declared a disaster area.

"The need to rebuild and relocate homeless individuals will prevent Mayor Nishimura and City Council President Imura from attending the opening ceremonies as in years past," explained Japanese native and festival coordinator Ayako Rooney. "But the festival will go on and become a mutual fund-raiser. Our sister city committee will collect donations to support the families of victims in New York as well as Tosashimizu."

Mr. Rooney, her husband, added:

"The theme of this year's event will be peace and the universal bonds of all peoples of the world."

Gerry and Ayako's son, Mark, has put his parents vision into practice. He decided to explore his Japanese cultural heritage by answering the Taiko drummers' recruitment call during a previous performance of the ensemble at the bi-yearly Manjiro Festival.

"Mark played for several years and became a Taiko drum instructor. We even built drums together in the garage," Gerry said with a smile.

Taiko is the Japanese word for drums, once used to drive away evil spirits and celebrate bountiful harvests. Taiko drumming is a vigorous art; it is said that the boundaries of Japanese villages were established by how far the sound of the Taiko drumming carried.

Odiako New England, based in Massachusetts and founded in 1994, will be the keynote performers at the festival, which commemorates the ties between Manjiro Nakahama and Capt. William H. Whitfield.

Manjiro was a 13-year-old from Tosashimizu rescued from shipwreck in 1841 by Capt. Whitfield, who brought him back to live in Fairhaven. Eventually returning to Japan, Manjiro rose to prominence in the Japanese government, largely due to his familiarity with American customs and the English language.

In addition to the Taiko drumming, there will be music performed on the flute and the koto, a multi-stringed instrument. Japanese cuisine will be available, including yaki soba, a traditional noodle dish with spiced vegetables, and yaki tori, a skewered chicken dish. A zen tea ceremony will be held in the Town Hall.

Marital arts demonstrations will be conducted on the Unitarian Church lawn throughout the day. Crafts booths selling everything from quilts to origami will line the streets.

New Bedford Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr., Fairhaven Selectmen Chairman Brian Bowcock and Consul General Yamamoto of Boston will attend the opening ceremonies at 10 a.m.

The Fairhaven/New Bedford-Tosashimizu Sister City Committee is sponsoring the festival.

For more information, call Gerry or Ayako Rooney at 508-995-1219 or Carolyn Longworth at the Millicent Library, 508-992-5342.

The Japanese cultural theme will continue through the month of October. The South Coast Learning Network will sponsor a two-part series titled "Japan Revealed." The Oct. 16 session will review the history of U.S./Japanese relations. A Japanese tea ceremony will be held Oct. 28.

Call Sandria Parsons at 508-997-9792 for details.

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