Earlier this month, Angela Shaffer attended the Doki Doki event on behalf of Aid For Japan and reported back on her experiences…
The Doki Doki Festival is an annual Japanese culture event that takes place in Manchester. For this year’s event, Aid For Japan were the event organisers charity of choice.
“Doki Doki” is a Japanese phrase referring to the sound of the heart beating. Amongst young women it has come to mean a heightened state of excitement, especially concerning the “butterflies” in a girl’s stomach when she is near a boy she has a crush on.
Aid For Japan had a stand at this Doki Doki Festival and I manned this stand from 10am – 6pm. To one side of our stand we put a large banner to advertise our charity. On the table we had an earthquake collection box, some badges, leaflets and flyers advertising Akemi’s study school (including Skype Japanese lessons).
Akemi gave an Aid For Japan charity talk. She was also part of a panel of five guests answering the questions of anyone interested in visiting or living in Japan. Then, later on in the day, she gave a final talk about ‘The History of Japan.’
Some of the highlights of the event were: the maid cafe where young Japanese girls dressed up as maids serving Japanese food (e.g. sushi) and dancing in a very cute way on the stage. There was a demonstration of a tea ceremony, a fashion show and a demonstration of how to dress in a traditional kimono. The lady supposed to give this talk was unable to come so at the last minute one of the organisers stepped in and her demonstration was really excellent.
There was also a raffle, a Japanese blues singer, taiko drumming, demonstration of martial arts, dancers on stage and a young man playing the shamisen.
The purpose of Akemi and myself having a stand at this festival was to make new people aware of our charity and to do some fundraising. We both worked hard but the day was fun.
As a thank you from the Doki Doki organisers, they presented an after work, free entry evening party (organised by the Manchester University Japanimation Society) held at The Pub opposite the Sugden Sports Centre. A few of us played pool, drank and had a good time!
I look forward to work with Akemi at The Doki Doki festival in Manchester next year!
Angela Shaffer
