As summertime in the Philippines approached faster than we anticipated, Japanese culture enthusiasts were able to experience the return of Ateneo Hinomoto’s Natsu Matsuri. This summer festival was held last March 24 at the Bellarmine Field of Ateneo de Manila University. The last one was held back in 2019, so everyone was excited for the return of Japanese-themed school events since the pandemic struck and the easing of event restrictions.
As per tradition, the event was open to Ateneans and visitors, and attendees were able to experience a traditional Japanese festival with fun games, interesting booths and merchandise, great food, and awesome live performances.
arkadymac.com is once again an official media partner for this event, and we had our Correspondents Sabthulhu and Yanna covering for us. Sabthulhu was wearing a traditional yukata while Yanna cosplayed as casual Yoimiya from the game Genshin Impact.
Attendees were able to participate in many activity booths that were set up around the field. Our correspondents certainly had fun trying out the different games like the wa nage ring toss, the Taiko Drum video game, the kingyo-sukui goldfish scooping, a shateki range target shooting, the yoyo tsuri water balloon hooking game, and the senbonbiki string game among others. The organizers also set up a photo booth tent, which a lot of the guests in traditional Japanese wear and in cosplay lined up for.
The night was made more interesting by the live performances of many different groups, such as Project: MATERIA. Alyson, Sugawara Budokai Manila, Blue Symphony Orchestra, UP TUGMA Koto Ensemble, Re:ANIMUS, Midnight Pretenders, Code X, Yume Miru, and Run like Lions.
There were also merchandise booths that offered different items, and some were even renting and selling out traditional Japanese outfits.
We even had a chance to meet the past and current presidents of Ateneo Hinomoto, and they were certainly proud and excited to be able to hold Natsu Matsuri again.
Gica Pollisco 2015-2017
Sean Lee 2017-2019
Sam Arnaldo 2019-2021
Isa Obcena (not in pic) 2021-2022
Chen Claveria 2022-2023
As the stage presentations drew to a close, everyone who registered in the event was included in a raffle, and the lucky winners were granted cash prizes.
A well-deserved congratulations to Ateneo Hinomoto for successfully holding Natsu Matsuri again, and we look forward to the next summer festival. Natsu Matsuri 2023 was presented in partnership with The Japan Foundation Manila and Sugawara Budokai Manila, Urban Chicks Resto Maginhawa, as well as their media partners The Daily Manila Shimbun, Radyo Katipunan, and arkadymac.com.
Many thanks to Stephen “Tep” Adap for writing this article and for taking these photos. For more photos from this event, do visit our other feature on Natsu Matsuri 2023 with photos by Kazumi by clicking here. And thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again for more event features here at arkadymac.com.
About The Author
