Taste of Japan, a festival celebrating Japanese food, fashion and heritage, is returning to Phoenix for its second year on Saturday, October 7 and Sunday, October 8. Taking place over two days in Heritage Square in Downtown Phoenix, more than 15 different food and sake vendors and nearly 50 different retail vendors will give Phoenix residents a taste of Japanese culture. Vendors include Phoenix-based Sake Haus and Pedal Haus Brewery. Attendees can also look forward to live entertainment, anime-themed activities and cosplay competitions.
We asked Rocky Yoneyama, who launched the event in Phoenix last year, what fans can expect at this year’s festival.
What is Taste of Japan and who is behind it?
Taste of Japan is an event to give Phoenix a taste of Japan with food, pop culture and entertainment all in one place. There will be entertainment on the main stage throughout the day, such as Japanese drummers, martial artists [and] anime.
What inspired the event’s creation?
We wanted to create an event where people can experience Japanese culture without actually going to Japan. This event started, initially, as my side business to my restaurant. I have a bakery selling Japanese desserts in downtown Anaheim, [California] and the event initially started as a way to draw more people in. Then we had an offer to do the event in Long Beach and then, two years ago, we moved into Arizona.
Tell us about setting up the event. What’s involved?
First, we have to find a venue, which involves working with the City of Phoenix and different community leaders to create the event layout and decide where all the different vendors and stations will be set up. We get the police and fire department involved to make sure that we are creating a safe environment. We have to get necessary permits.
How do you get involved with other businesses and vendors? What different food, drinks, shopping and attractions do you have to offer this year?
It’s so important to create relationships with vendors and for us to make them the focal point of the event. We are going to be introducing a lot of cool food vendors. We’ll be bringing a lot of delicious Japanese food, too. We have ramen, Japanese fried chicken, shaved ice, and we are bringing a lot of other authentic Japanese street foods to Arizona.
What is the importance of bringing Japanese culture to Downtown Phoenix?
When I first came here, I noticed there weren’t a lot of Japanese restaurants or events held here, and people don’t know a lot about Japanese culture. It’s really a challenge to figure out how to bring people to this event and make everyone feel included and learn something new. There are a lot of people also learning more because of anime and things like that, and it’s about getting them to [try something new].
What are you most excited about for Taste of Japan this year?
There’s a lot of cool things for this event going on. We have a tuna cutting show. We’re cutting this huge 220-pound tuna fish, which is a big tradition in Japan, in front of the customers. We have performances going on, traditional Japanese dances, and a cosplay costume contest. We are going to have a Japanese comedian performing, a comedian very well known by the Japanese community. It’s going to be a really cool experience.
For more information, visit tasteofjpn.com.
