COURTESY JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER OF HAWAII
Tegata, such as the hand print created by Akebono, above, will be one of many fun activities at the Boy's Day Festival on Sunday.
Hand prints by baby
are a family treatThe Japanese Cultural Center will
show how to create them Sunday
Making a lasting impression is not always easy, but the imprint of a hand or footprint can make be a lifelong family treasure. Baby foot and handprints are always a hit with parents who want to capture the precious moments in their newborn's life.
The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii will be making it easy for any parent to create a family keepsake on Sunday. Tegata, the Japanese art of handprint and calligraphy, will be a highlight at the Boy's Day Festival.
Admission to the festival, with an afternoon of entertainment, is free, but there will be a nominal cost for activities such as make-and-take craft sessions ($3); gyotaku, or fish printing ($3); and tegata ($6).
Sumo wrestlers popularized the tegata art form by using it as an autograph, said Chieko Watanabe, JCCH's marketing director. A few examples grace the walls at Tokkuri-Tei restaurant, where appreciative sumotori have sat for many a meal.
COURTESY JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER OF HAWAII
Chieko Watanabe, right, of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii prepares tegata by painting black ink onto 11-year-old Alex Colby's hand.
Using red or black ink to apply their handprint on white paper, they then sign their name in kanji with a brush pen and contrasting ink color. Akebono's tegata will be displayed at the festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2454 S. Beretania St.
"In Japan, foot-printing is more famous," said Watanabe.
Originally, tegata was used to document the growth of a newborn. The infant mortality rate was high, she explained. "They wanted to see how the child was growing, so they would make prints at birth, again at age 1 and at ages 3, 5 and 7."
In the United States, footprints are done in hospitals as a means of security reasons or simply as a take-home souvenir birth certificate. Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children no longer engages in the practice.
According to Liza Cabatu, a nurse at the Queen's Medical Center, they still do it for security purposes. The prints are included with medical records but are no longer distributed to parents.
But parents who want to create hand and footprints need not fret. The Internet hosts an array of sites selling kits for making ink or clay prints, engraved footprint plaques, and even cast kits to re-create a baby's hand or foot in glass, bronze, silver or gold.
For additional Boy's Day Festival details, call 945-7633.
COURTESY JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER OF HAWAII
Making hand prints below are former JCCH board member Albert Miyasato, second from left, with his grandsons Alex Colby, left, Nicholas Crawford and Rory Zia.
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