The first Japan Festival Wellington was held by Wellington City Council in 2009 to celebrate the ties between New Zealand and Japan and our sister city relationship with Sakai.
Since 2018, the Wellington Japan Festival Trust, made up of seven volunteer Trustees, has been the driving force behind the Festival, with support from Wellington City Council and the Embassy of Japan in Wellington. Not to mention all of our wonderful volunteers in the run up to the Festival and on the day!
Team Members
Jack
Event Manager
Experienced event specialist excels in planning and executing diverse events, delivering creative and exceptional experiences.
Mayu
Trust Chair
Director of maririNZ which promotes Mānuka honey on the Japanese e-commerce market. She is a passionate exponent of Japanese culture and has been involved with the Japan Festival since 2009.
Ayu
Trustee
Ayu has worked as event and project coordinator in the public sector and non-profit organisations. She enjoys using her skill set for the Japanese community.
Johaniek
Trustee
Johaniek was part of WCC’s International Relations team who first held JFW in support of diplomatic relations. She lived in Japan to study martial arts, and works for Japanese technology company NEC NZ.
Brigid
Advisor
Works as an Event Designer for Wētā FX where she has organised many events and venue management in Wellington. She lived in Japan for 10 years.
Lys
Designer
Lys from The Paper & Ink is our skilled designer. She is a talented illustrator who designs all of our posters, brochures and everything design.
Sarah
Social Media
Sarah is responsible for creating, curating and posting on our social media channels. She enjoys engaging with people over social media and watching audiences grow.
Janan
Comms Lead
Specialised in communications, copywriting and journalism, Janan is our “everything-comms” expert. She was also one of the four MC at JFW2022 event.
Margaret
Stall Lead
Margaret is a consultant and a coder during the day. She has been a part of JFW crew since 2021 - this year she will lead everything “stalls” at Michael Fowler Centre. Margaret is also our website master!
Mana
Volunteers Lead
Trilingual (JP-EN-FR) translator by trade, Mana has an experience in assisting Events.
Anri
Performers Lead
Anri was a performer & a stall holder at JFW 2022 known as “Essence of Japan”. She runs her own Japanese Body therapy in CBD and dances Salsa, Samba and Japanese dancing in her own time.
Maki
Collaborator
Just arrived in New Zealand from Japan, Maki was working at an advertisement company in Yokohama.
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