On January 25th, 2025, the annual New Year Party and Advisor Itsuko's Birthday Party was held at the Atsumi Foundation Hall. It was still a Winter day, with traces of serene, cold air, but once I set foot in the venue, the warmth made me feel as if Spring has arrived.

This year's gathering was the biggest since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Advisor Itsuko, Executive Director Atsumi Naoki, Associate Director Imanishi Junko, Foundation staffs, the 2024 fellows, and many other raccoons and their family from various places - grand total of 62 people - came together. The venue was filled with pleasant chats, from smiles of reunion and joy of new meeting.

The New Year Party in fact started since early in the morning. Yu Xiaofei, a 2002 raccoon, took the lead as the chef, and along with fellows from China and Foundation staffs, made gyoza from wrappers. Yu was thoroughly particular with the gyoza, from the thickness of the wrappers, the size of the fillings, and the shape of the dumplings. Making sample gyoza for tasting, checking and fine-tuning the flavor of the fillings, and we finally made the amazing sui-gyoza - all the while having great fun.

After that, many other participants who arrived at the venue also joined the gyoza-making, and we made 300 gyozas. 3 days from this New Year Party is the New Year's Eve of the Lunar Calendar. Traditionally, in Northern China, everyone in the family come together to make gyoza on this day. Everyone helping each other and making gyoza together at the Atsumi Foundation Hall was as if we were one big family. As someone who is from the Southern-most part of China, it was the first time I made gyoza, but doing so together with friends and colleagues in a foreign land allowed me to feel the warmth of a new family.

There was another unforgettable, important event on this day. The 2024 fellows presented Advisor Itsuko with a gift for her 97-year old birthday. However, this time, the present was not a "thing", but a memorable performance. Omoto Keiko, a 2024 fellow, invited Louise Hitomi, an ikebana practitioner from the Sogetsu-ryu School. Louise-sensei did a live flower arrangement performance, with flowers adorned in purple - Advisor Itsuko's favorite color - as the base. The Hall was filled with the beautiful message of "through flowers, people are connected, fun and joy are born, and our hearts become fulfilled", as Louise-sensei puts it. After that, the 2024 fellows sang the "Happy Birthday" song together, expressing an earnest, warm, and sincere celebration to Advisor Itsuko.

Finally, after eating freshly-made mochi and oshiruko, having a good laugh in the bingo game, and bringing back great memories along the prizes, this year's New Year Party came to a close.

Let us all welcome a hopeful new year, looking forward to our next meeting and other new meetings.

Written by: Zhang Jun (2024 fellow)

Photos from the day

Translated by: Motoki Luxmiwattana