Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-22
JAPANESE HOLD
FEAST TO DEAD
UREBANYE is CELEBRATED AT
VENICE
RESORT GAY WITH cOLoRS AND
LOUD WITH BANzAls
Thousands of Mika6os Subjects Parade
and Enjoy Themselves in Native
Way-confetti Carnival
Closes Day
Especial to The Herald ]


VENICE. Aug. 21.-"Banzai!' Ban
zai Venice!" "Banzai Nippon! anu
"Banzai Mikado and honorable Ameri-
Cans!" added a man in the center or
the parade at the celebration of Ure-
bayne, the feast to dead souls" which
was participated in today by large
number of former residents of the land
of apple blossoms and chrysanthe-
NUNS A perfect roar of banzais
dreds of smiling Japanese conveyed
their pleasure to the throngs who lined
the thoroughfares of this beach to wit
ness the procession of beautifully deco
rated floats.
Banners containing weird figures and
notices in Japanese were strung the
length of WindWard avenue, while an
enormous national flag with the big
red sun of the kingdom of the far east
shared the width of the street with
the stars and stripes of America. Other
smaller flags were draped in conspicu-
Gus places from the pier to the Mid
way, the whole interwined with strings
of flags of all nations.
Sinq and Dance on Float
The float which was the center OF
attraction in the parade contained
twelve Japanese musicians and dane
ers in their native costumes of many
hues. Selections and dances were given
as the float followed the line of march,
which was the entire length of the
city of Ocean Park northward from
Windward avenue. The members OF
the committee, wearing white badges
with the emblem of the sun, occupied
prominent positions in the line.
Exhibitions of jiu-jitsu and gekken
took place in the dancing pavilion,
twenty-five Japanese taking part and
astounding the audience with their
lightning movements and their display
of strength. A feature of this part of
the program was a bout in jtu- -jttsl
between two children 10 years old.
They went at their work with the nat
ural stolidity of their race and ac-
knowledged the plaudits of the crowd
unblinkingly Several clever fencing
matches between some of the most eX-
pert of the mikados swordsmen fol-
lowed.
Native Dances Repeated
National dances by men and women
in costume took place at the dancing
pavilion. The comical Suteko evoked
shreks Of amusement from white and
brown people alike. The blind dance
and the dance used at the time Of
prayer for the shrine and also used on
New Years day were features.
a display Of Japanese day fireworks
took place early in the afternoon, and
the forms that were sent into the air
gave a creditable demonstration of the
Cleverness and art of the workers in
the far east who follow the making of
these toys which are to be seen in all
parts of the civilized world
The feature of the might celebration
was the lantern parade and carnival
and confetti ball Thousands of Ian
terms carried by both Americans and
Japanese darted hither and thither,
forming a procession which wound its
way from Windward avenue to Marine
street and back again. Lanterns dotted
the ocean front and were aboard of
every craft in the canals. Others We're
launched forth on the waterways and
ocean and left to burn themselves out
or float to sea standing out in tiny
sparks OF light against the darkness.
A magnificent display of fireworks
was set off from the Center street pier.
The effect of the show was perfect. A
clear sky against whose dark back
ground the fiery trails and showers
produced miniature volcanoes dis
played the fireworks to perfection.
Confetti by the hundreds of pounds
was thrown by the thousands who
formed the ever-moving, ever-changing
crowd that passed along Windward
pier and into the buildings and along
the ocean front and on the Midway.
The dancing pavilion was a mass Of
humanity, American and Asiatic Vieing
with each other in cosuming the most
of the fimsy paper bits and adding
their share of fun to the general en-
ioyment.