Yōkoso (welcome)! On Sunday 25 February, the Japan Day festival was held in Auckland – and what a big day it was!
After being delayed to November in 2022, the 21st Japan Day was back in its regular summer slot, making it a true natsu matsuri (Japanese summer festival) again. The venue was the Trusts Arena in West Auckland – and the community packed the hall, particularly around lunchtime.
St. Pierre’s was proud to be a Gold Partner, with a big team selling fresh temaki cones, nine flavours of cream mochi (including one new flavour!) and fresh-grilled vegetarian gyoza. And we couldn’t go without popular Japanese drinks, including green tea, melon and grape soda, and five flavours of ramune lemonade.
The cones and mochi were really popular, with hundreds of customers coming for the flavour experience and to chat with our staff – thanks everyone! And did we mention gyoza? As soon as the grilling started, sales rocketed ! There’s something about that aroma that draws a crowd…
The crowd just kept coming for the temaki! We were stunned by demand, selling out soon after lunch – even after restocking from Lincoln Road shop (thanks to manager Hanjun and team for their help!) Happily, temaki cones are available fresh every day at K10 sushi train in Ponsonby and Newmarket.
Apart from our stand, the exhibits ranged from food to fashion to art to cars – truly something for everyone!
And, of course, there were lots of exciting performances, such as taiko drumming, mochi making, and lots of music! The Japanese ukelele group show – featuring Noriko-san from St. Pierre’s – created a lively, positive atmosphere which put a smile on everyone’s face.
For more, check out the Sakura TV YouTube channel.
Director Nick Katsoulis was thrilled at the successful event, commenting:
“Japan Day is a way that St. Pierre’s shows our appreciation to the Japanese community of Auckland. For an event to be held for over 20 years means it has strong, broad support, and is a great way to show we are the market leader in Japanese food in New Zealand. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to helping on the day, and of course the customers who visited. Despite the unpredictable weather, it was just as great a day as we hoped it would be.”
It’s just great to see Japan Day back as a classic summer festival. This summer, we’re also again supporting the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon series – check out a location near you to join the action, or just cheer on your local kids!
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