Visitors will enjoy a thrilling performance from Makoto Taiko percussionists during The Huntington’s 2026 Japanese New Year celebration. Courtesy of Makoto Taiko.
The Huntington’s Japanese Heritage Shōya House will celebrate Shōgatsu—the traditional Japanese New Year—on Sunday, January 11, from noon to 3 p.m., with taiko drumming, ikebana floral arrangements, and botanical crafts for visitors of all ages.
The free event, included with general admission, centers on the 3,000-square-foot house brought piece by piece from Marugame, Japan, and reconstructed in San Marino after restoration. Originally built around 1700 during the Edo period, the structure served as both family residence and administrative center for the village headman before being donated by Yohko and Akira Yokoi.
Makoto Taiko, a Pasadena-based ensemble of nearly 120 musicians established in 1999, will perform three half-hour sets at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. The “multi-racial, multi-ethnic ensemble” will deliver “the powerful and rhythmic sounds of the centuries-old tradition of kumi-daiko drumming” under instructor Koji Nakamura, a 2007 Grammy Award winner.
The San Marino League, a nonprofit organization of women, will teach visitors “the meditative beauty of the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement” through their Ikenobo School of Ikebana. The league has maintained fresh arrangements in the Shōya House year-round since founding president Mary B. Hunt became qualified to teach at the Ikenobo School in spring 1958.
Visitors can craft their own Shimenawa wreaths using rice from The Huntington’s annual harvest, a tradition meant to “welcome good fortune in the new year.”
Second Sundays: Japanese New Year will run on Sunday, January 11, 2026, from noon to 3 p.m. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit https://www.huntington.org/event/second-sundays-japanese-new-year. Ticket prices: $34 general admission (included with event); free for Huntington members and children under 4.
