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Nisei Week, Tofu Festival Draw Thousands
By AUDREY SHIOMI
Rafu Staff Writer
Saturday, Aug. 19, 2006
Iron Chef Morimoto, ondo dancing among highlights of annual J-Town events. |
Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
Members of the Rissho Kosei-Kai make some noise along Second Street during the 66th Annual Nisei Week Parade in Little Tokyo. Below left, head choreographer Mme. Fujima Kansuma leads her group of ondo dancers under the midday sun. Over 70 individuals and groups participated in Sunday’s annual event.
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Amid midday temperatures in the 80s, thousands descended upon Little Tokyo Sunday for a sampling of healthy tofu dishes followed by an afternoon parade.
Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto stirred up a packed audience at the 11th annual Tofu Festival with his original creation of tomato-based lobster sauce over daikon (white radish) pasta. Keeping with the event’s theme, the renowned TV chef added diced tofu and unsweetened soymilk. A handful of audience members were pre-selected to sample Morimoto’s dish.
At the festival’s main stage, Jooshin Kim, Yuki Matsuzaki and Daniel Meza battled it out at |
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this year’s tofu-eating contest for the grand prize of a 13-day trip to Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam with top Asian chefs. Contestants were allowed to flavor their tofu with oyster, hoisin or soy sauce provided by sponsor Lee Kum Lee, but were not allowed to use their hands while eating.
Kim, a 31-year-old chef at Hollywood’s Koi restaurant claimed the prize, finishing a block of medium-firm tofu in 23 seconds. |
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“I smashed it with my face and gulped it, and literally just drank it,” the first-time contestant explained of his winning technique.
Using tofu as their main ingredient, over 45 vendors whipped up a fanciful array of creations both savory and sweet. Little Tokyo’s Chop Suey Café served a gazpacho-esque tofu soup along with summer seasonal tofu salad, while Soybliss Foods passed out samples of their lychee, mango and coconut flavored tofu dessert. Torrance-based Otafuku |
Foods offered their original tofu okonomiyaki, a Japanese-style pancake with vegetables topped with an all-natural soy-based sauce. |
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Proceeds from the event go to Little Tokyo Service Center, which provides social services including mental health counseling, low-income housing, and childcare.
A block away, jazz kotoist and parade marshal June Kuramoto greeted a crowd of over 5,000 at the 66th annual Nisei Week Grand Parade. Trailing behind was Los Angeles’ newest consul general of Japan, Kazuo Kodama, accompanied by his wife, Keiko.
Dressed in decorative blue and white kimonos, the Fujima Kansuma-kai danced to the Nagano Winter Olympics theme, “Wa Ni Natte Odorou,” with participants from the general public in tow.
Local Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles provided a youthful energy to the cultural festivity. Carrying a 200-pound mando, a decorative structure representing the ten thousand lights of Buddha, nearly 100 members danced to the beat of a tedaiko drum. |
“It’s good to see not only Japanese but people of many other cultures here,” said 23-year-old Emi Sato, a Japanese exchange student from Mishima city who, though it was her first time at Nisei Week, helped to emcee the parade. “I really enjoyed watching non-Japanese wearing yukatas and dancing around. It’s great.”
Other paraders included Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Grand Marshal Noritoshi Kanai, Nagoya Deputy Mayor Takayasu Tsukamoto, “Survivor: Exile Island” star Bruce Kanegai, Los Angeles Police Department Commander Terry Hara, USC Athletic Director and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett, and the 2006 Nisei Week Pioneers.
Following with tradition, the Rafu Mutsumikai rounded off the parade carrying along a mikoshi, a portable Shinto shrine, on their shoulders. |
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Made up of Nikkei and Japanese residents of Los Angeles, the group has participated in the festival for the past 13 years. |
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