Saturday, Jan. 18: Oshogatsu in Olympia: Japanese New Year Celebration

The Olympia Center

By Ron Swarner on January 13, 2014

Do you know what Shodo is? How about Sumi-e? Tako? Ikebana? Well, you have to know origami - don't you? OK, quickly, in reverse order, they are: paper-folding, flower-arranging, kite-making, ink-painting and calligraphy. Confused? Excellent. Now you can go to the Oshogatsu in Olympia: Japanese New Year Celebration to get yourself straightened out. Not only will you learn the difference between all of these delicate arts, you'll get to experience firsthand Japanese dance and music, taiko drumming, aikido and vocal performances. You'll walk away culturally educated and suddenly able to kill hours at work by folding all of your memos into little cranes and flowers. Oh, how you'll Odori it.

Oshogatsu in Olympia: Japanese New Year Celebration, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. SE, Olympia, $2, celebrastejapan.org