A Japanese-themed party can be simple and relatively inexpensive to organize while providing lots of fun for your guests. With a little attention to detail, anyone can turn their home into a welcoming Japanese space for a night, and the techniques you learn might even influence your own style. Does this Spark an idea?
Rice-Paper and Other Decorations
Make or purchase pre-made rice-paper decorations such as screens, lanterns and window coverings; rice-paper.com has ideas on pep up your space with traditional Japanese rice-paper decorations. You can also decorate with fans and use gift-wrapping paper with Japanese designs to cover up your other wall art for the night.
Refreshments
In addition to a couple of varieties of sake which guests can pour for themselves, have a selection of Japanese beers like Asahi and Kirin. For snacks, put out kaki peanuts, ajigonomi (a type of Japanese trail mix), edamame pods, Pocky, or anything that strikes your fancy as you browse in your local Japanese or Asian market.
Tea Service
The ritual of serving tea in Japan is complicated, with many culturally specific implications and movements that can take quite some time to learn. You may want to avoid learning tea service and simply have your friends gather around to have you pour them a glass or mug of green tea. As you sip your tea, you might fold simple origami shapes together or construct flowers of colored rice paper.
Sushi
Set up a station with cooked sushi rice, nori, bamboo mats, a variety of fishes and chopped vegetables, soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger and, of course, chopsticks, and have everyone create their own sushi roll. Learn make sushi at Sushi Now and then share what you've learned with your guests.
Music
Play a CD of traditional Japanese music like gagaku or sokyoku softly in the background to provide ambiance. Alternately, if your friends like to dance, put on a CD by Pizzicato Five, one of Japan's most popular exports in today's music market.
Tags: rice-paper decorations, traditional Japanese, your friends, your guests