A few days ago we chatted about heading down to watch the Gateway Cup over Labor Day weekend. Let’s continue discussing our plans for the upcoming holiday by talking about the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. We are going to have so much fun this weekend!

This annual celebration of Japanese culture and tradition draws around 25,000 visitors each year. The fun kicks off Saturday morning with an elaborate omikoshi Shinto shrine parade, bon odori festival dancing and taiko drumming. One of the most popular parts of the festival – for kids and parents alike – are the sumo wrestling events. Weighing in at a combined weight of 1,100 pounds, three retired wrestling professionals perform Japan’s ancient national sport of sumo wrestling twice a day at the Cohen Amphitheater.

You’ll learn what daily life is like for these unusual athletes. A few brave audience members will have the unique opportunity to compete against the three wresters in practice bouts. (I hope their health insurance is paid up.)

The festival offers tons of fun events the whole family will love. The University of Missouri-Columbia Banraku Bay Puppet Troupe takes the stage daily to enact a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater called bunraku. A system of rods, levers and a team of three puppeteers bring 4-foot-tall wooden puppets to life. The kids will love watching martial artists demonstrate aikido, judo, karate, kendo and koryu bugei. They can also try their hand at origami paper folding or playing traditional Japanese games. Don’t forget to catch a colorful kimono fashion show and ice sculpting demonstrations.

The 2010 Japanese Festival is happening at the Missouri Botanical Garden on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4 and 5, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older and $5 for children ages 3 to 12. Garden members can get in for $5 and their kids 12 and under are free.

For a schedule of events or more information, please visit the Missouri Botanical Garden’s website. Sayounara!    

By Andrea Light Wilson, Events Blogger for SmartParenting