Enjoy a free concert of Japanese folk songs by the Ikoi no Kai Singers and The Hirugohan Group at the Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner in the Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center at 1:15 pm. This family-friendly performance will include a collection of children’s songs in Japanese including the beloved Kira Boshi, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. As part of our extended celebration of the Tanabata Festival, the performance will also feature a song about Tanabata, 七夕様 (Tanabatasama).

Ikoi No Kai, the Japanese Ancestral Society of Portland, was founded on February 14, 1979 by a group of Issei to provide nutritious meals to older members of our community. The name was selected because of its meaning: “a place of rest.” Ikoi no Kai also provides an opportunity for people to get together to sing, play cards, and move with lessons in tai chi and chair hula.

The Ikoi no Kai Singers are accompanied by The Hirugohan Group. In Japanese, the word for lunch is hirugohan. The singers and musicians perform a repertoire of half American and half Japanese songs.

Portland Japanese Garden would like to thank The Miller Foundation and Toshiba International Foundation for their support of arts and culture programming.