SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - JULY 9: Alex Suzuki Hudson, of San Jose, performs with San Jose Taiko during during the Obon Festival at the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The Obon festival in San Jose’s Japantown is always a cause for celebration, with two days of food, music and dance surrounding the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin in the historic district.
But this year is even more special. First, it’s the 50th anniversary of San Jose Taiko, and its drummers will be performing both Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (and there’ll be college taiko groups performing both days, too).
Of course, if you’ve been to Obon before, you probably know that each evening closes out with the Bon Odori dance. But this year, there’s a new dance being added to Bon Odori called “Arigato” — Japanese for “thank you.” It was choreographed by Reiko Iwanaga and is being performed to honor her retirement as Head Bon Instructor after 25 years. She’s using it as a thank you to all the supporters of the festival and San Jose Taiko, but she deserves the thanks just as much for her dedication to keeping Japantown thriving.
Sunday will also feature a 2:30 p.m. performance by singer and guitarist Kina Grannis, who is a YouTube sensation with nearly 1.7 million subscribers. But her appearance at Obon isn’t trying to generate more followers but bone marrow donor registrants. She’s on a campaign to sign people up; her mother was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2021 and needs a stem cell donor to save her life.
You can find out the full lineup for the festival and other information at www.sjbetsuin.org/annual_obon_festival.
QUICK CHANGES: San Jose-based nonprofit Catalyze SV is shuffling its leadership responsibilities with the announcement that Executive Director Alex Shoor will run for San Jose City Council’s sixth district seat next year to succeed Dev Davis, who is terming out. While Shoor is keeping his position, he’s going to step away from the nonprofit’s advocacy work in San Jose. Instead, Rocio Molina will step into an expanded role as interim deputy director, and she’ll continue to lead Catalyze’s community engagement efforts when it comes to development projects in the city.
Shoor made the announcement on Monday, though it was certainly in the works before that: He rode in a car in Tuesday morning’s Rose, White & Blue Parade in San Jose with a sign on it identifying him as a candidate.
GOING FOURTH: The Fourth of July holiday weekend got off to a great start Saturday at the Stars and Strides run in downtown San Jose, which drew more than 2,200 participants and raised more than $330,000 for the Valley Health Foundation. And, of course, I had a fun job as one of the judges for the costume contest, and there were lots of great contestants, but one definitely stood out: Jerry Wright was dressed as Elvis in a 1970s jumpsuit and shades but added his own touch — a bright green foam pompadour. Wright, who lives in Sunnyvale, is a 35-year employee of Valley Medical Center.
FLOWER POWER: The Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden are having a community volunteer day on July 8 that focuses on summer rose care, guided by the group’s master volunteers. Registration gets started at 8:30 a.m. at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden’s Dana Avenue entrance.
Later that evening, the group — which has been tending to the historic garden for the past 16 years — will host a jazz concert featuring Jessica Johnson to celebrate its volunteers. The music, which is free and open to the public, starts at 6:45 p.m.
“What better way to celebrate our volunteers than a big jazz concert?” Terrence Reilly, leader of the Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden, said. “The volunteers are the true petals that make this garden bloom.”
Originally published at Sal Pizarro