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In 2023, we developed a new Festival formula, which we repeated in 2024: a five-hour stage program, in which each hour contains the same set of elements. This formula enables participants to take part in various activities taking place in the pavilions without missing the points of the stage program that interest them.

For years, we have been showing Polish people, as well as persons from various other nationalities living in Poland the culture of Japan. We see the effects of this approach, as we arouse curiosity and remove barriers.
NAMI Airando is reminiscent of Polish festivals, and at the same time it is similar to a Japanese matsuri. It is a Festival available to everyone, understandable to everyone in the formula of common fun and common knowledge. This is a place and time for fun for everyone.

As always, NAMI Airando started with a parade. Parade was led by Yosakoi dance teams performing Seicho Yosakoi Naruko Odori. 30 dancers represented four teams of different origin – Sakuramai from Poland, Ameagari from Hungary, Yuurin from Estonia and Byakuyafrom Sweden. After the parade all teams performed on stage – both separately and in some cases joined performances of a few groups together. Nami Yosa, as this part of NAMI AIRANDO is now called, is a wonderful example of Japanese culture connecting people from different countries. Nami Ren, probably the first awaodori group in Poland, completed the line up of dance teams.

As mentioned earlier, since last year NAMI Airando stage program has been divided into segments. Each segment, lasting an hour, includes one dance performance, one song by Hibike Choir, one martial art presentation and one story told by Kobito Rakugo. This way everyone could get a taste of what NAMI Airando has to offer in just an hour, but at the same time, since songs, stories, dances and martial arts changed each hour, you could also watch for a full five hours without getting bored.

But the stage program is just one part of NAMI Airando. While some people watched performances on stage, other visitors were busy taking part in many activities offered in the pavilions. For a few years our foundation has been working with ICEA – an organization devoted to sending Japanese volunteers to teach Japanese in different countries. Right now Maki Ochi and Yuko Kanda are staying in the NAMI Foundation as part of this collaboration. They also joined NAMI Airando. Ms. Ochi, together with long time NAMI volunteer Kazumi Łoza, were writing chosen kanji and people’s names in katakana in the calligraphy pavilion. Ms. Kanda and Monika Pietrasz(Japanese philology graduate, who is a Japanese teacher at our Foundation) where responsible for a version of karuta in language and pop-culture pavilion. As always, there were also pavilions dedicated to Japanese traditional clothes, where people could take a look at formal kimonos such as furisode and kurotomesode and also get dressed in a yukata. There was also a pavilion for Polish Bonsai Association, represented by Rafał Wodzicki.

NAMI Airando would not be complete without martial arts. Besides performances on stage, there was also a whole area dedicated to showcasing them, where visitors could not only watch, but also take part in workshops. This year martial arts were represented by our friends from Fudoshin Aiki Dojo, Jinkaku Kansei Karate Club, and of course Renshinkan Iaido Club and Ryushinkai Kendo Club, with are part of NAMI Foundation.

Like each year, we spotted familiar faces among visitors. But not only the guests taking part in many attractions provided by our festival were having fun. Though helping in the pavilions and performing on NAMI Airando can be exhausting, most artists and volunteers are coming year after year again. It was a pleasure to see so many people returning for yet another edition of NAMI Airando and enjoying themself at our festival once more.

When preparing the festival’s program, we relied mostly on the wide network of friends and clubs gathered around the NAMI Foundation. This network reached many European countries and Japan as the common spot for all. We tried this idea shyly last year and implemented it fully this year, making the festival a meeting place for friends who share a common passion and want to spread this passion around. Most of us are just amateurs who devoted a big part of their lives to exploring various aspects of Japanese culture and Japanese way of life. A small surprise of the festival was a visit of a Japanese couple biking over Europe (just friends of our friends) who impressed the audience with their endurance and bold undertaking to travel from Sweden through Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia to Austria. Seeing them happy while watching the festival was priceless.

By our efforts with the support of friends, this is the motto of Nami Airando 2024 and the next editions of the Japanese Festival on Słodowa Island.