2025 Japan Festival - Sunday 25th May 

Box Hill Town Hall, 1022 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Annual Japan Society of Victoria Japan Festival will take place on the last Sunday in May.  Entry is just $5 per person for adults and students aged 12 and older, or $3 for primary school students.  Pensioners, concession card holders and pre-schoolers are free.  Anyone wearing full cosplay or kimono/yukata also enjoy free entry.

Activities include performances by Wadaiko (Japanese drumming), Martial Arts, Japanese music and dance, Karaoke and Cosplay shows, plus the school student E-tegami competition display including artwork by 40 students from St. Paul's (see below).  There are many stalls with a wide range of Japanese food and products, along with traditional festival games for children to play.

This year, a record number of art entries by St. Paul's Grade 5 and 6 students have been submitted in the Festival's E-tegami Postcard competition.  These will be on display at the Festival, alongside entries from other students across Victoria.  Japanese artists will be judging the entries, with an additional award based on popular vote.  After the Festival, the entries will be sent to Matsuda city in Chiba Prefecture in Japan and put on display in a presentation highlighting Australia-Japan friendship. 

The word 'E-tegami' is a combination of 'e' meaning 'picture' and 'tegami' meaning 'letter'. E-tegami is a Japanese artform based on simplified drawings with a simple message. Our theme this year has been 'Let's be Friends', in keeping with the theme of our 2025 Penpal letters.  The standard of the artwork by St. Paul's students has been especially high this year, with students choosing to include the friendship message in Kanji characters, Hiragana or English.