Yokota youth learn about Japan's Girls' Day traditions

  • Published
  • By MCSN A.C. Rainey
  • Air Force Print News
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  A young Japanese girl delicately pours from an antique pot into a mixing saucer. She gently sets down her wooden ladle and begins stirring the water and tea grounds with speed and precision. 

Every movement in the Japanese tea ceremony is planned to perfection, and every audience member looks on with anticipation and silence.

On March 10 children at Yokota Air Base got to take a first hand look at a ceremony and even got to be in it during a Hina Doll Festival presentation at the Yokota Youth Center.

The festival was part of a celebration for Japan's Girls Day, a holiday started from a tradition of Japanese parents going to temples a wishing for their daughters to be healthy and beautiful when they are older. The event is just one of Yokota Air Base's programs aimed at building good community relations with their Japanese host.

"It's good because if you live in Japan then it's good to learn about the culture around you," said Amy Cuttings, a resident at Yokota Air Base and president of the Yokota Youth Center Torch Club.