Nestled between Kawaii Kon and Oni-Con Hawaii on this year’s “major and majorly cool events that local anime and manga fans ought to attend this year” calendar is the inaugural edition of Taku Taku Matsuri, being held Aug. 25 at Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu (1239 Olomea St.). If there was a checklist of things that you’d want at a summer festival celebrating otaku-ism, this event would pretty much hit all the highlights on that list: food, games, artists and vendors selling all sorts of cultural swag, photo shoots, live music, and the Cosplay Chess Brigade and Yu x Me Maid Cafe and Host Club holding court.
Any event of this scale, though, is going to need volunteers to help it run smoothly. To that end, Taku Taku Matsuri is putting out the call for volunteers for both night-before setup on Aug. 24 and day-of event staffing. You’ll need to be over the age of 18 before Aug. 25 and, if you’re interested in working on the day of the event, attend at least one training session. And that’s why I’m bringing this up now — the first two training opportunities are happening on Sunday. Here’s the full list of training days and times:
Sunday: 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m.
Aug. 3: 1-3 p.m.
Aug. 18: 10 a.m.-noon, 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.
Interested? Email taku2matsuri@yahoo.com for the appropriate forms.
Also, a reminder for those of you who may not have seen the last Ota-cool Incoming! calendar: The Mini Mini Taku Taku Water Gun Fight is still on for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ala Moana Beach Park … and now, because any good water gun fight can work up quite the appetite, there’s going to be a potluck as well. You bring the food; they’ll supply the water and juice. I’m not sure at this point which part of the park they’ll be setting up shop, but I’ll update this post with that info if/when I hear back from people in the know about such things.
Update 7/27: Meet at the tennis courts at 10 a.m.! There also will be watermelon smashing! And a Taku Taku Matsuri prize raffle at 4 p.m.! Exclamation points!
Otaku Ohana 