The Japanese have a saying ‘too late for the festival’ meaning that a person doesn’t realise what they have until it’s gone. The phrase seems apt for the Bhutanese who missed the Japan-Bhutan festival held yesterday in Thimphu. It was run by members of the various Japanese volunteer organisations here in conjunction with the Japan Alumni Association of Bhutan, consisting mostly of the Bhutanese people who have studied in Japan using grants from the above organisations.
While falling far short of a true Japanese festival, it was a great day, full of fun and memories of my past years. Stalls sold yakisoba (fried noodles), onigiri (rice balls), ryokucha (green tea) and matcha (ceremony tea) among other items. Attendees could join a tea ceremony, fold origami, play children’s games or make sticky rice in a stone crucible by whacking the rice with long handled wooden mallets.
Each item or event was a maximum of 10Nu, the equivalent of roughly 20 Eurocents. The Japanese knew that Bhutanese would not be inclined to participate, so they made everything cheaper than affordable. I commented on the Bhutanese lack of interest in such events, which struck me as strange when they loved to eat, dance and party in a similar way themselves. A tour guide told me that it wasn’t lack of interest or even lack of awareness of the event (posters had been placed all around town and on banners across the main street) but shyness that kept them away.
Most Bhutanese have little experience of cultures outside their own and would be worried that they’d embarrass themselves by wearing the wrong thing or not being able to afford the food and activities, or just by being surrounded by foreigners. Hopefully word will get out and next time the Japanese run a festival, it will be as crowded as a traditional festival in Japan.