The City of Cupertino and the City of Toyokawa, Japan, have been sister cities since 1978.  Our program promotes cultural awareness and friendship between the two cities.  The 40th year of this relationship is being celebrated this year.

The Japantown neighborhood comes to life in the spring when the cherry blossoms start to bloom. This is also when more than 200,000 people flock to this little district for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival started in 1967. Since then, it's grown to be one of the largest cherry blossom festivals in the US. The 2019 festival will be held on two weekends, April 13-14 and April 20 - 21. This celebration includes traditional music, dance, and other cultural activities. During the festival, you can sample a variety of Japanese and Japanese-American culinary treats. These include popular dishes such as fresh sushi, tempura, and chicken or beef teriyaki.

Clockwork Alchemy is the San Francisco area's own steampunk convention. Originally a part of FanimeCon, Clockwork Alchemy is now its own independent event celebrating music, makers, dancing, writing, crafting, fashion, and fun related to steampunk! Clockwork Alchemy 2019 will be held March 22-24, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency SFO in Burlingame, CA.  Volunteers are requested for the Clockwork Alchemy workshop. We are down to 1 hour again this year. Please be in the War Room, dressed and in your bogu by 10:45. Please let Chad ( nezrog @gmail.com ) know if you're interested. There are a limited number of spots available, and they will be assigned according to the order in which the responses are received: if you are too slow to respond, you might not get a spot. We will spend approximately 20 minutes on demonstrations and 40 minutes on teaching sho-men uchi, sune-uchi, and giving participants a chance to strike volunteers with bogu.

The Northern California Naginata Federation (NCNF) will be hosting a kyu-level exam on December 9, 2018. The exam will be held on the San Jose State University campus, in San Jose, Calif., and will be for students testing for 1-kyu or below.     WHAT:             NCNF Kyu-Level Exam WHERE:           San Jose State University, SPX-178 WHEN:             Dec. 8, 2018. INFO:               Contact Martin Nobida (nobida@yahoo.com)            Note that the exam will be part of the Tangoubukan’s annual end-of-year training and bonenkai.

SEMINAR Registration from 930AM-10AM 10/20 (Sat). To be held: ·      10AM to 5PM on 10/20 (Sat) ·      10AM to approximately 3PM on 10/21 (Sun). Agenda for both days to be determined.   TOURNAMENT To be held 10/21 (Sun), approximately 3PM. Will comprise two events: ·      ENGI: Pairs will consist of Yudansha and Dangai members. Pairs will be chosen on the day of the tournament. ·      SHIAI: Two divisions—Yudansha Men/Women and Dangai Men/Women (if enough members)   DINNER We plan to have pizza dinner on night o 10/20 (Sat).

More details of schedule, etc will be released when provided by USNF.

Hello! Quick note on our upcomming annual Spring Seminar: What: 2018 NCNF Spring Seminar and Tanaka Sensei Memorial Engi Where: San Jose State University, SPX-178 When: Sunday, May 6, 2018, 1030am to 500pm Who: Hosted by the SJSU Kendo and Naginata Club We will be holding Kyu examinations and may host NCNF team tryouts to determine representitives for the 2018 NCNF Nationals. Fees will be $30 per person, plus any test and menjo fees related to exams. Any kyu-level exam has a $20 test fee, to be paid prior to the exam, as well as a $20 menjo fee, to be paid only after passing the exam. Additionally, after the seminar concludes we plan to hold a general meeting.

Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc. is proud to present the 35th annual Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29, 2018 at Cupertino’s Memorial Park, the Quinlan Center and the Senior Center. This fun family festival honors Cupertino’s sister city relationship with Toyokawa, Japan by sharing Japanese arts & culture with the entire community.  Hours are from 10 AM to 5 PM, admission is FREE, entertainment is FREE, and parking is FREE at De Anza College (Lots A&B). Indoor cultural exhibits and demonstrations take place throughout the day in the Quinlan Community Center, featuring music and dance performances and cultural displays, demonstrations, workshops, and hands-on activities presented by professionals, non-profits, and special interest groups. Outdoor entertainment is held at the Amphitheater and includes Taiko drum groups, Japanese dancers, various martial arts, and musical performances throughout the day.  VIP festival guests, local government, school board members, and students selected for the annual cultural exchange program will be introduced at noon on Saturday. Throughout the lawn areas will be arts and crafts exhibits and special interest groups such as Japanese dog and koi fish clubs.  Children’s activities feature hands-on arts & crafts and a petting zoo.   Local high school service groups will lead games/crafts. Japanese cultural arts and crafts vendors, a gallery of Toyokawa student artwork, and a pictorial timeline of Cupertino’s sister city relationship with Toyokawa will be grouped at the “Japanese Artisan Pavilion” located at the Cupertino Senior Center and patio. Food and drink include sushi, spam musubi, gyoza, asian chicken salad, yakisoba, mochi, teriyaki chicken skewers, hot rice, shave ice, fruit bowls, kettle corn, cotton candy, coffee, smoothies, beer, sake, plum wine, sodas and lemonade. For more information about this event visit www.cupertinotoyokawa.org.or www.cupertinocherryblossomfestival.org ​  

This is a high-profile annual demonstration we have been participating in for many years. We will demonstrate basics, shikake-oji, and bogu. I have invited the Tendo Ryu group to participate with us, but they have not confirmed, so we should be prepared for either a 15 minute demo or a 30 minute demo. We will meet at 3:00 behind the Peace Plaza stage at the SF Japan Center (Geary between Laguna and Webster streets). Please come wearing your keikogi and hakama, and have your naginata and bogu ready. The demonstration proper is scheduled to go from 3:30 - 4:00, but may be running behind schedule.   where: SF Japan Center, Peace Plaza stage   when:  Saturday, April 14, 3:30 - 4:00 pm, meet up at 3:00 pm   site:  https://sfcherryblossom.org   contact: Chad: 415-490-6470

This is a two hour workshop, in which we demonstrate the basics of naginata and teach a crowd of participants basic strikes such as shomen, sokumen, and sune.  In the past we have gotten crowds of up to 40 participants. You are invited to volunteer regardless of your experience level, and volunteers will receive a free weekend pass to the convention. If you are interested in participating, please contact Chad (nezrog@gmail.com) as soon as possible if you have not done so. Please be in the War Room at 10:30 wearing your keikogi and hakama (if you don't have these clothes, please wear a white top and navy blue or black pants). Bring your bogu and all the naginata you own! Also, make sure you have eaten a decent breakfast or brunch prior to the workshop. The workshop will include an opening explanation and demo of basics and shikake-oji (15 min), followed by teaching shomen, sokumen, and sune. At around 12:00 we will have a 5 minute water break, and volunteers who have it will put on bogu. After the break volunteers will receive basic strikes, and if there is time we will teach some basic oji waza such as men-uke-sune and sune-uke-men. The final 15 min will be a demonstration of bogu practice. If any of you would like to demonstrate ishu-jiai (naginata against kendo), please bring your shinai.   where: Hyatt Regency SFO; Burlingame CA; War Room   when: Sunday, March 25, 11am-1pm   site: http://www.clockworkalchemy.com   contact: Chad Goerzen, 415-490-6470  

Update!: NCNF will be participanting again with Clockwork Alchemy! It will be an 2 hour seminar where volunteers will help with teaching and safey monitoring. You will also receive passes for Clockwork Alchemy/Fanime. Our time slot is scheduled for Sunday, May 28th from 11a-1p. Please reply to let us know if you are interested! The full event is May 26th-29th at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose, CA. For more information, please see their website: http://www.clockworkalchemy.com/

The NCNF will host the 2017 Northern California Spring Seminar and Tanaka Sensei Memorial Embu on May 20, 2017. The one-day event continues an decades old tradition begun under the late Miyako Tanaka Price, the founder of the NCNF, of providing broad, yet deep training for locals interested in furthering or learning about the art of Naginata. It is open to all NCNF members as well as anyone in the public who is curious about learning about this traditional martial art.Overall details are as follows:WHAT: 2017 NCNF Spring Seminar and Miyako Tanaka Sensei Memorial EmbuWHEN: May 20, 2017, 1030am to 500pmWHERE: CPAA, 2148 Bollinger Road, San Jose, CaliforniaWHO: Open to any member of the NCNF or public. Primary instructors will be Martin Nobida and Chad Goerzen, with Temuchin Lowe as a guest instructor.PRICE: $35For experienced naginata practitioners, the event will focus on basic technique, kata, sparring and tournament preparation. Many of naginata members will participate in the coming US Naginata Federation's national championships, seminar and exams in July, so this event will help in their preparation An instructor will be assigned to any new students or for members of the public who want to get an idea of what naginata is all about.The day will end with the second annual Miyako Tanaka Sensei Memorial Embu, a chance for martial artists to perform for the late Tanaka sensei.