Ganbaru, also romanized as gambaru, is a ubiquitous Japanese word which roughly means to slog on tenaciously through tough times. The word Ganbaru is often translated to mean "doing one’s best", but in practice, it means doing more than one's best. The word emphasizes "working with perseverance" or "toughing it out."We at Japan House believe that we are all doing this during these difficult times, and we are asking for your support to ensure that we can continue to offer cultural events, classes and experiences in the future!
Japan House’s Matsuri Festival has become a key and highly anticipated event for the campus and community to enjoy. Matsuri originated in 2015 as our small gesture of connecting with like-minded businesses, artists, and organizations who wanted to share and celebrate Asian culture in our community. With Facebook stating that 900 individuals were interested in this event, Japan House was thrilled! Unbeknownst to us for our first festival, we welcomed over 3000 people who delighted in an afternoon of performances and activities while supporting local businesses and artists. Each year since, this festival has grown dynamically — partnering with even more businesses, artists, and performers to honor Asian culture while enchanting thousands of students, staff, faculty, families and community members. We are honored that Matsuri has become a staple in our community — a true celebration of cultural diversity that welcomes all to engage with unique practices and customs outside of their everyday norms.
We are living through an unprecedented time — a worldwide pandemic which has asked each of us to make incredible sacrifices. The decision to cancel Matsuri 2020 was not an easy decision, and yet in obvious ways it was. The well-being and safety of our community and our campus is paramount to us. Japan House’s mission is to embrace the ideals of Chado, the Way of Tea — harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Right now, we must respect the situation with pure minds and hearts, and by doing so, we showcase our reverence for humanity. We can look upon this time as a chance to reflect and to re-examine our lives. We have the space and time to reassess how we can and should contribute to humanity right now and as we move into the future, Consequently, in order to support and protect the well-being of our community, Japan House will sorrowfully close its doors for all events until we are assured that it is safe for all.
During this time, we seek your continued friendship, support and understanding. We will longingly await the day when we can reunite and celebrate together. We hope that time will be Matsuri 2021 - a festival of all festivals that will return with vibrancy, revelry and renewed hope for humanity.
What is GANBARU? GANBARU IS A DAY OF GIVING!GANBARU will feature a 12-hour online streaming event starting with a Blessing and Goma Fire Ritual from Japan, followed by a full day of performances by artists such as Ho Etsu Taiko, Seiran Chiba, Michoyoshi Sato, Duo Yumeno, the 5, 6, 7, 8's and more!
Five traditional Japanese Tea ceremonies will be showcased, as well as LIVE updates, video montages and more!
Although the streaming event will provide great content for the whole family to enjoy, this is ultimately a Day of Giving. We have been working with the University of Illinois Foundation to provide a simple-to-use portal for donations towards Matsuri 2021. We encourage anyone who loves Japan House to support us with a donation large or small.
Throughout the day, we will be randomly drawing names of participants for prizes... and some of the items are really, really special!
Michael's Catering is developing a GANBARU! menu that will be delivered throughout the day, as well as Triptych Brewing is creating a new beer special for the occasion. Both vendors are generous donors to Japan House and part of the process from the sales will come back to Japan House.
A limited number of GANBARU! t-shirts will be available for purchase, as well as a new design from artist MAXX.
NOTE: All links will be provided prior to the event. We will be heavily promoting them on our own social media.
Volunteers are needed to help with this event. In particular we need help prior to the event preparing for deliveries, cooking/kitchen prep, as well as on the day of GANBARU delivering meals, answering phones and general assistance at Japan House, online LIVE opportunities, and more!Also, we want to see and hear what people love about Japan House. Videos will be shown throughout the day in montages. We are asking for short videos (no more than 60 seconds) of well wishes from people around the world to be sent to our email japanhouse@illinois.edu. We encourage creativity, dressing in yukata or kimono, a picture from a past event with a statement, etc. They are due by Aug 24th.
To Volunteer: Please contact Michael at mdarin@illinois.edu
