RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM The TEMARI Center for Asian & Pacific Arts hosted a New Year's festival at Ward Warehouse yesterday. Paula Vincent worked on adding pine boughs to a kadomatsu, the traditional Japanese arrangement of pine and bamboo that is symbolic of good fortune in the new year.

An early welcome
to the new year

Japanese traditions take
center stage at Ward Warehouse

---

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Ky Wong, 8, wrote his middle name, Hideki, in Japanese hiragana characters with a brush and ink with the help of Hideko Usami at a Japanese calligraphy display.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Wishes for the upcoming Year of the Ram were written on paper ema and hung on a rack.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hyung Kwon Cha, in foreground, and Sugie Hasegawa of the Halla Huhm Korean Dance Group performed the traditional Pong San Talchon mask dance.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Kathi Takakuwa arranged a smaller kadomatsu arrangement that can be used as a tabletop display.