A historical event

On the 8th May, the Wings of Hope Charity event was organised by the New Zealand Japanese Society of Auckland (NZJS) and was held at Auckland Town hall.

The NZJS organised this cultural event for the people of Japan. All proceeds from the event were donated to the Japanese Red Cross.

In the afternoon, there was a cultural festival and a music concert in the enening.

I was involved in the "KARUTA" booth during the cultual festival.

What is " KARUTA" ?

Karuta is a type of card matching game where players try to find the second half of the poem written on a card when the first half of the poem is read out by a reader.

The poems were compiled into an anthology in the 16th century. The oldest poem is about 2,000 years ago from Heian period in Japanese history. What an old card game this is!

This poetry is very popular in Japan as it deals with topics such as of love, the seasons and scenery.

I think most of the poems are about love. I'm so surprised that even those poems were written by more than 1,000years ago, people now still feel the same way.

I really enjoyed this historical cultual festival. We were also able to raise a huge sum in aid of Japan. Also, people who were in the event, all prayed for Japan.