Japanese culture on display at inaugural festival

Bob Shemeligian

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

More than 1,000 performers, artists and celebrities will participate in the first Japan Festival in Las Vegas Saturday through Tuesday.

Festival events will include Japanese cultural exhibits at several Strip hotels and other locations, outdoor performances at the Fremont Street Experience and a Friendship Parade Sunday afternoon.

Roberto Campos, executive director of the Japan-America Society of Nevada, noted that the festival will offer visitors from Japan and local residents an opportunity to share cultural information.

"We're trying to show Japanese visitors a little bit about our own culture in the Las Vegas area, and at the same time these Japanese performers will give us a taste of richness and beauty of Japanese culture," Campos said.

The highlight of the festival is the Friendship Parade, set for 2 p.m. Sunday. It will start on Gass Avenue between Las Vegas Boulevard and Seventh Street and will proceed up Seventh to Bridger Avenue.

"Participants from Japan will be dressed in traditional Japanese attire, and others in the parade will include members of Legends in Concert, taiko drummers, a Dixieland band, the UNLV Marching Band and appearances by Miss Asia and Miss Nevada," Campos said.

It is estimated that nearly 5,000 people of Japanese descent live in Southern Nevada, and thousands of people from Japan visit Las Vegas each year.

"This is a very exciting city," Campos said. "This is a city that people from Japan love to visit, and it's an ideal place to hold this festival. We want to make this an annual fall festival."

Festival events include:

Saturday

* Gateball tournament, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunset Park.

* Kimono Show, 2-3 p.m., Fashion Show Mall.

* Karaoke Party, 6-10 p.m., Lady Luck hotel-casino.

Sunday

* Friendship Parade, 2-4 p.m., Gass and Las Vegas Boulevard.

* Outdoor performances, 5-8 p.m., Fremont Street Experience.

Monday

* Traditional performing arts, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hollywood Theatre of MGM Grand hotel-casino.

* Japanese Cultural Exhibits, 1-6 p.m., South Pacific ballrooms of the Tropicana hotel-casino.

* Outdoor performances, 1-8 p.m., Fremont Street Experience.

Monday's schedule is basically repeated Tuesday.

Sponsors for the festival include Las Vegas Events, Kintetsu International Express, International Gifts Inc., Eagle Canyon Airlines, Japan Cash Machine, Regent Broadcasting, Saturn of West Sahara and Henderson, Clark County Department of Parks and Recreation, Ballard Communications, AT&T Wireless Services and Japan-America Society of Nevada.