A flair for culture: Japanese arts, crafts help community

Seymour Oktoberfest is all about celebrating German culture, but for more than 20 years, a group of Japanese women have made sure to leave a different cultural mark during the annual festival.

Sakura Helping Hands again will have a booth at the annual downtown event, featuring hand-made arts and craft items for sale. The group, which consists of 30 to 40 women living in Seymour temporarily while their husbands work at local Japanese-owned companies, spends most of the year making their wares. They get together once a week to work and talk as well as spend time on their own making the merchandise.

Each item is made from traditional Japanese material and there is a wide selection to choose from, group spokeswoman Yuki Chinda said.

From dolls and teddy bears dressed in kimonos to handballs, origami ornaments, paper dolls and more, the booth is a popular stop for many festival-goers, some of whom come back each year to get something different.

This story appears in the print edition of The Tribune. Subscribers can read the entire story online by signing in here or in our e-Edition by clicking here.