Japan Day @ Central Park returns this year to New York City, Sunday, May 31. Among the entertainers will be Kollaboration 2009 winner Kenichi Ebina, Jpop singer-song writer Ai Kawashima, and Japan Gold Disc Award winners Orange Pekoe. The festivities will be held at the East Meadow of Central Park (Fifth Avenue and 97th Street). There’s lots of food and music — and it’s all free! Take my advice and go early else there won’t be any chow mein, gyoza, gyudon Over Rice, miso soup, and sanuki udon noodle left. (Yes, I have learned the hard way.)

BTW, I’m scheduled to help out at the SANUKI Project table. We’re going to give out 3000 servings of Udon noodles to New Yorkers — for FREE! The faster people eat, the faster I get off work!

This is the third year for Japan Day @ Central Park. Last year, an estimated 40,000 New Yorkers showed up. The festival begins at 10am. Stage performances begin at 10:30am. And the eating begins at 11am.

The day’s complete performance schedule is here.

For more information, check out the Japan Day site.
I should warn you that the official site plays this little musical trailer every time you load the page. With no volume control and no pause button, it’s sure to annoy someone (like me!)

For the uninitiated, Kenichi Ebina in action: