Latest news with #NihonMatsuri
New Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
Super GT Malaysia's epic surprise
Previous Next THREE exciting race categories, a full blown festival and a live concert awaits fans to the Super GT Malaysia Festival at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit from June 26-28. With the addition of the GT Live! post-race concert, fans of Super GT will cap the excitement on the track with a line-up of musical sensations from across the region. Haro Sports & Entertainment, as the rights holder and promoter for the Malaysian round of the Super GT, and Nihon Matsuri as co-organiser of the Super GT Malaysia Festival, promise fans a thrilling and memorable experience. A festival of epic proportions which will also showcase a Japanese food and cultural extravaganza. "Super GT Malaysia Festival is not a just a race. It's an event that's sure to entertain everyone," said Haro Sports managing partner Fahrizal Hasan. "From automotive exhibits to Japanese cultural extravaganza, and JDM car gatherings to the GT Live! post-race concert. Whatever your interest may be, one ticket gives you access to all the thrills," he added. Spectators will be introduced to Indonesia's hottest sensation hitting social media across the globe. You've heard them on TikTok, you've seen them on YouTube. Now, you can watch "Garam & Madu (Sakit Dadaku)" live on stage at the festival by the hit trio Tenxi, Naykilla & Jemsii aka TNJ. TNJ will headline GT Live! alongside the internationally acclaimed J-Pop and M-Pop female group KLP48 and Malaysia's new generation of musical talents Fareed of K-Clique, Sabhi Saddi and Kaka Azraff. Making all the thrills possible, UMW Toyota Motor and Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia have also joined to become the title sponsor of the festival. The festival will also host Round 2 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Challenge 2025, Malaysia's premier one-make series featuring professional drivers, amateurs and young talent racing in identically-prepared Toyota Vios cars. A highlight of grassroots motorsports in Malaysia, the Vios Challenge continues to blend competition and accessibility where victory depends solely on pure driving skill and racecraft.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Petiton started to bring the ‘town' back to SLC's Japantown
SALT LAKE CITY () — A petition has been started online, looking to bring the 'town' back to Japantown and to fill the historic area with Japanese businesses once again. This petition follows the recent announcement that Salt Lake County approved the sale of 6.5 acres of the Salt Palace for a new entertainment district, as well as Delta Center Renovations. The petition says its purpose is to activate 100 South Japantown Street with 'Japanese businesses, restaurants, and artist space within the Sports, Entertainment, Culture and Convention District, especially for any commercial space facing Japan Town Street.' How a Utah-based non-profit is working to fight food insecurity 'The whole thing that I have been focusing on is trying to reinvigorate the commercial aspect on that street, especially because the Smith Entertainment Group has mentioned that they will activate first south, and there's not that many specifics,' Clarissa Park, who started the petition, said. 'But to me, I just hope that they would activate it with commercial space and that they would prioritize Japanese businesses on Japantown Street.' Over two thousand people lived in Japantown before it was destroyed in the late 1960s when the Salt Palace Convention Center was built. It spanned across 100 South in Salt Lake City. Now, only a smart part of it remains, west of the Salt Palace, with the honor title 'Japantown Street.' The Salt Lake Buddhist Temple and the Japanese Church of Christ exist as landmarks that reflect the town's history. Yearly, Nihon Matsuri and the Obon Festival are celebrated in Japantown, focusing on Japanese culture and beliefs. Park wrote another petition about Japantown last year, focusing on , known as the Capital City Revitalization Zone, and asking that the Japanese American community be involved in the Participation Agreement between Smith Entertainment Group and the Salt Lake City Council. This petition received over 5,000 signatures. Park hopes the new one can reach the same amount. Park said that she lived half her life in L.A., and half in Utah, and was inspired by the celebration of cultural diversity she saw there. 'When I moved back, I saw that they had named 100 South between 2nd and 3rd West Japantown Street. I was like, 'Oh, that's so cool,'' she said. 'But where's the 'town' in Japantown? All that's left are the two churches. Coming from L.A., which is so culturally and ethnically diverse, it just made me really want to try to bring elements of what I experienced there back to Salt Lake because I know how ethnically rich Salt Lake is, too.' Park writes in the new petition that it remains imperative that the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, Japanese Christian Church, and Japanese Garden remain protected and preserved as historical beacons and remaining pieces of Japantown, along with additions to celebrate the local Japanese community. 'I would love a place for me and my family to go to just on a whim. We don't have to be dependent on there being a festival happening or anything else,' she said. 'I just really saw this as an opportunity to get involved in the community again and hopefully raise awareness.' Park is grateful for all the support the petitions have received, and is asking people to continue spreading the word. Tonight, May 9, there will be an opportunity to sign the petition in person at Sugarhouse Coffee during the Sugarhouse Art Walk from 6 – 9 p.m. To learn more, visit the SLC Japantown Instagram. St. George set to host final IRONMAN race this weekend Otter-ly adorable: Help name the new river otter pup at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium Rule banning off road vehicles in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area overturned Petiton started to bring the 'town' back to SLC's Japantown Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as details emerge of how conclave votes coalesced Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Utah's Japanese community, Japantown redevelopment plans focus at festival Saturday
Utah's Japanese community and Japanese culture are the focus of a festival Saturday that will also serve to call attention to proposed redevelopment plans in the Japantown area of Salt Lake City. Nihon Matsuri, in its 20th year, goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in the Japantown area in the heart of Salt Lake City, on 100 South between 200 West and 300 West, which is known as Japantown Street. Among the expected visitors is Hiroyuki Okajima, consul general of the Japanese Consulate in Denver, which covers Utah. 'This festival is a chance for our community to share our history, art, food, entertainment, values, history of Japantown and my own personal heritage,' Jani Iwamoto, honorary consul of Japan in Salt Lake City and a former state senator, said in a letter of support for the event. The event also serves to celebrate the 'essential role' of the Japanese community 'in shaping the broader fabric of Utah's diverse culture.' Japanese food will be on offer at the festival along with exhibits and entertainment. 'Festivalgoers can look forward to an immersive cultural experience, including authentic Japanese cuisine, traditional and contemporary performances, children's games, martial arts demonstrations and educational exhibits,' according to a statement from organizers. Japanese men started coming to Utah in the late 1880s for jobs building the railroad and shifted to other work, including coal mining and working beet fields, according to the Utah Education Network's Utah History Encyclopedia. 'Utah's Japanese residents now include third and fourth generations — sansei and yonsei, respectively.' Okajima, head of the consulate, also met with Salt Lake City and Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity representatives during his brief visit here. The future of historic 'Japantown' will also be on display Saturday. The historic neighborhood, which has been whittled down to one downtown block over past developments, now finds itself at the center of the new 'sports, entertainment, culture and convention district.' Organizers plan to display 3D scale models of the current and future layouts of its remaining buildings in relation to its neighboring blocks. The Japanese Church of Christ and Salt Lake Buddhist Temple are tucked between the Salt Palace Convention Center's southwest end and the northern end of 'Block 67,' two properties with the latest developments in downtown planning. Salt Lake County is slated to vote Tuesday on whether to sell about 6.5 acres of Salt Palace land that could go toward a plan to demolish the section closest to the churches. Block 67 was recently added to the project amid concerns from Salt Lake leaders, partially because of its proximity to Japantown. Revitalizing the neighborhood and some of the other cultural buildings in the zone remains Salt Lake City Councilman Darin Mano's 'deepest hope,' but he said he was concerned the project's late addition could jeopardize that. 'I don't feel 100% confident that ... what we've done is determinative that the outcome will be positive,' he said earlier this month. 'There are still so many choices that will be made along the way — design choices, choices about where to put entrances to parking garages ... and things like that.' Meanwhile, conceptual designs that University of Utah architectural students created late last year to show what the historic neighborhood could look like will also be displayed at the event. All of the concepts reflect the neighborhood's past while 'creatively designing a Japantown of the future,' according to Lynne Ward, a member of the Japanese Church of Christ leadership. 'These ideas could spark energy into incorporating some of the ideas into the area,' she wrote in an email. Salt Lake City's proposed Main Street promenade also includes a nod to the neighborhood along 100 South east of the convention center, which divides the historic neighborhood.
