Tucson Japanese Festival Celebrates 10 Years of Honoring Japanese Culture

Annual event features taiko drumming, traditional dance, martial arts, and more

Mar. 19, 2026 at 7:05am

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The Tucson Japanese Festival, organized by the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition, is celebrating its 10th year in 2026. The festival, held at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, features a variety of Japanese cultural performances and activities including taiko drumming, traditional dancing, martial arts demonstrations, origami, and more. The event has grown from a small New Year's mochi pounding gathering to an annual celebration that attracts around 2,300 attendees.

Why it matters

The Tucson Japanese Festival serves as an important platform to educate the community about Japanese culture and bring people of diverse backgrounds together. It showcases the vibrant Japanese-American community in Southern Arizona and helps raise funds for scholarships for University of Arizona students to study abroad in Japan.

The details

The festival features a wide range of traditional Japanese cultural performances and activities. This year, the festival will welcome special guests like Haruki Saito, a deity dancer from Sado Island, Japan, and Kay Fukumoto from Maui Taiko in Hawaii. Local taiko drumming group Odaiko Sonora will also be performing. Attendees can participate in mochi pounding, try their hand at games like shogi and go, experience tea ceremonies and ikebana, and browse a marketplace of Japanese-inspired food, crafts, and goods.

  • The Tucson Japanese Festival started in 2014 as a New Year's mochi pounding event.
  • The festival was not held from 2021 to 2023 due to COVID-19, but was revived in 2024 with a move to March.
  • This year's festival will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2026.

The players

Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition

The organizer of the Tucson Japanese Festival, a council of about 10 core members that partners with the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center to put on the annual event.

Odaiko Sonora

A local Tucson taiko drumming group that has been part of the festival since the beginning. The group was co-founded in 2002 by Karen Falkenstrom and two other women.

Haruki Saito

A deity dancer from Sado Island, Japan, who will be performing at the 2026 Tucson Japanese Festival.

Kay Fukumoto

The co-founder of Maui Taiko in Hawaii, who will be traveling to Tucson to perform at the festival.

Carolyn Classen

The publicity chair for the Tucson Japanese Festival and one of the founding members of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition.

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What they’re saying

“Everybody who comes is Japanese nationals, Japanese Americans, people interested in our culture or Asian culture.... There's a steady group of people who are interested in our culture. It brings people together to inform them and just to spread goodwill about who we are.”

— Carolyn Classen, Publicity Chair, Tucson Japanese Festival

“This has really brought together the diverse communities that are interested in Japanese culture or who have Japanese heritage.”

— Karen Falkenstrom, Director, Odaiko Sonora

What’s next

The Tucson Japanese Festival planning committee is currently selecting two University of Arizona students to receive $500 scholarships to study abroad in Kyoto, Japan.

The takeaway

The Tucson Japanese Festival has evolved from a small New Year's gathering to a vibrant annual celebration that showcases the rich cultural heritage and diversity of the Japanese-American community in Southern Arizona. By offering educational experiences, artistic performances, and community engagement, the festival helps to promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.