NEWS

On Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27, 2019, the Tenku Festival Organizing Committee held the 17th annual school festival. Under a clear fall sky, the campus bustled with a large number of students and local residents, attracting a two-day total of nearly 3,000 visitors.

The theme for this year’s festival was “Step into the World.” The Organizing Committee poured its efforts into holding a range of events all over the APU campus so visitors could experience the world wherever they went.

The festival kicked off with a performance by the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Wind Orchestra on the outdoor stage. There were also dancers, bands, and performances by traditional arts clubs as well as exhibitions by volunteer clubs in the classrooms. The bustling flea market also added to the action. At night, the campus sparkled with 500 bamboo lanterns and 50 lanterns that APU students and children from a nearby nursery school made from milk cartons.

Every year, visitors to the Tenku Festival look forward to the food stalls. Various clubs and student groups served up Japanese festival favorites like oden and takoyaki as well toriten, a popular local dish of chicken tempura. Visitors could also enjoy a taste of the world with ethnic dishes they wouldn’t normally have a chance to try such as roshogolla, a sweet, white treat from Bangladesh, kao kai jiao, a Thai-style fried rice omelet, and bakso, a rich Indonesian soup.

Many families came to the festival again this year, and they could be seen enjoying the student performances and dishes from the food stalls.

Next year’s Tenku Festival will be held on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, and it will serve as the grand finale of APU’s 20th anniversary celebrations. Other commemorative events, including a Homecoming Day for alumni (November 1 only), will be held at the same time. Be sure to mark your calendars, because you won’t want to miss next year’s festival!