
This past weekend was the Autumn Festival at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The Autumn Festival is a celebration of Asian culture, highlighting the traditions and cultures of Japan, China, Korea, and the Philippines. The festival featured traditional craft demonstrations, music, dance, cultural arts exhibits, and storytelling.

This is my third year performing at the Aquarium. The Aquarium of the Pacific is a public aquarium located on Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, California. The Aquarium of the Pacific’s mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems. The Aquarium is involved in numerous conservation efforts, including breeding and rehabilitating endangered species, sustainable seafood, watershed education, climate resilience, community science, and more.

I was honored to join Ryujin Taiko for their story time show at the Marine Life Theater. They are an amazing group of drummers that you can usually find at your local Japanese/Asian festival ready to entertain and show the light-hearted side of Taiko. I read my book, which I illustrated and wrote called “WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?” It was fun to have Robie from Ryujin Taiko act out the book behind me.
http://stephanieyanez.com/whatareyourdreams


Then I had my own concert in front of the Blue Cavern where I performed my own original songs inspired by Jpop, Retro Anime, and City Pop. I also performed my rendition “Rouge No Dengon” from one of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies “Kiki’s Delivery Service” that I will be releasing soon on all music streaming sites with AJ.
I also read my book for my concert in a traditional Japanese storytelling art called Kamishibai.

Ryujin Taiko also joined me for my concert for my last song which is my original “Ultimate Miku World” that I released with virtual idol Hatsune Miku for the now defunct Anime avatar game TinierMe.
https://instagram.com/ryujin_taiko?igshid=MTNiYzNiMzkwZA==
I had a wonderful time performing at the Autumn Festival. I loved seeing everyone in the audience enjoying all the music, dance, and storytelling from the Asian cultures that were highlighted at this beautiful festival. Thank you to Wendy of Wow Productions, Autumn Festival, and Aquarium of the Pacific for having me!

https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/mob/ile
『JAPANESE POP CULTURE NEWS THAT YOU MUST KNOW!!!』
Writer: Stephanie Yanez
Instagram @stephachu
Website https://direct.me/stephachu
(11/15/2023)
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