JapanTown to Give New York City a Taste of Japan in Three Themed Festivals

NEW YORK, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The NYC Japan Street Fair is back this summer with a new name: JapanTown! Uniting a diverse array of local Japanese businesses and household brands, JapanTown is a series of three festivals held in the East Village, Midtown, and the Upper East Side, focusing on Japanese "cool" culture, Japanese healthy food, and Japanese soul food, respectively. Introducing distinct Japanese products and attractions, JapanTown welcomes everyone to experience the rich culture of Japan and learn more about the New York Japanese business community.

Starting off JapanTown on July 17th, 2010 is the Cool Japan festival in the East Village, NYC's unofficial Japan Town. Highlighting the popular elements that make Japanese culture "cool," this festival offers Japanese robots to antiques to favorite snacks such as yakimochi and okonomiyaki. Visitors are also invited to participate in a Japanese street fashion contest; winners receive a prize from a JapanTown sponsor.

The Healthy Food & Green festival on August 22nd in Midtown enlightens visitors about select wholesome Japanese foods. Look for macrobiotic specialties from Souen Noodle restaurant, pesticide-free Japanese produce from Suzuki Farm, miso beef from Marukome, and soy products from Kikkoman.

The Soul Food festival on September 26th in the Upper East Side is all about Japanese soul food—the authentic dishes unique to specific regions of Japan. Visitors can sample such eats as Kyushu grilled tonton pork, Japanese curry, fried soba and gyoza, and konjac. The agricultural government of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island, is to showcase its regional products as well.

JapanTown began in 2009 and was enormously successful, with an estimated 80,000 visitors browsing the wares of 30 vendors, which sold a massive quantity of items and distributed up to 10,000 product samples within six hours and 450 food samples within four hours. It is estimated that 200,000 visitors are to visit the three JapanTown festivals this year.

JapanTown is still accepting vendor and sponsor applications. For more information, please visit www.nyjapantown.org.

SOURCE JapanTown