CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The art of Japanese dining will be on the menu of activities at this year's spring open house April 18 (Saturday) at Japan House.
Located at 2000 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana, Japan House is an educational and cultural center focusing on Japanese arts. It is affiliated with the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois.
The open house is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All activities are free and open to the public.
The featured presenter at this year's event will be Richard Kaiser, the owner of Nanakusa, a Japanese restaurant in Milwaukee. Kaiser will share his thoughts on the enjoyment and etiquette of Japanese cuisine at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
At 10:50 a.m. and 1:50 p.m., Barbara Hundley, a member of the Japan House friends group Tomonokai, will discuss the group's new membership drive.
Garden tours by James Bier, the designer of the Japan House gardens, will begin at 1 and 3 p.m.
Throughout the day, members of the Urbana-Champaign Association of Chado Urasenke Tankokai will present tea ceremonies. Also on view all day will be flower arrangements by members of the Illinois Prairie Chapter of the Ikenobo
Ikebana Society of America.
More information about the open house, and other upcoming Japan House events is available online or by calling 244-9934.