This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Saturday's thunderous roll of Taiko drums, caressed by the delicate, breathy notes of a singular ancestral bamboo flute, evoked both the long history of Utah's Japanese community, and its determination for a cultural revival.

The 11th annual Nihon Matsuri Japan Festival, its ancient music, traditional dance, martial arts and ethnic foods mixed with groups of "cosplay" teenagers clad as anime cartoon characters, drew hundreds to what once was downtown Salt Lake City's "Japantown."

In a barricaded area of food, bonsai, crafts, art booths and stages along 100 South between 200 and 200 West, Japantown — eradicated in the mid-1960s with construction of the Salt Palace and other developments — lived again, if only for a day, as sunshine broke through partly cloudy skies.

Behind a table laden with bonsai, or miniature trees, 71-year-old Ken Yamane remembered those days when his family would visit the old Japanese enclave, and celebrated the cultural touchstone the annual festival provides today.

"My grandparents would come down here and spend several hours just talking to their friends. But when they disbanded Japantown, it seemed the community kind of fell apart for a time," he recalled. "It's important to revive that."

For decades, all that remained of the community were century-old landmarks like the Japanese Church of Christ, at 268 W. 100 South, and across the street, the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple (211 W. 100 South). Then, in 2005, Nihon Matsuri — literally, "Japan festival" — was launched.

Along with sharing his 20-year devotion to the bonsai arts, Yamane, an Air Force retiree who has attended every festival, looks forward to each year's opportunity to "see friends I grew up with."

For Marion Hori, 75, the festival is both marking the triumph of spring and her own family's strength, by enduring a forced exodus from their California home to a World War II internment camp, and then carving out a new life in Salt Lake City.

"I was about 5 when we moved here, and I spoke no English. It was hard for me to go to school at first, but I adjusted," she laughed, recalling successful careers as both a civilian employee at Hill Air Force Base, and in the financial services industry.

Once retired, she focused on helping a new generation revive and appreciate their heritage in a state where Japanese people have had a presence since the late 19th century, when many of them came to Utah as intercontinental railroad workers.

Judging by the throngs of children and teens Saturday, the dedication of Hori and others volunteering and sponsoring the festival is paying off.

One was 17-year-old Erica Okada, attending her second festival.

"It's fun to see people dressing up [in costume] and getting to experience Japanese culture," she said while preparing a display of dishes at one of many food stands. "This is important for our family, to see our culture revamped."

Along with mouth-watering arrays of steaming rice, noodles, seasoned meats and other treats, visitors experienced traditional tea ceremonies, watched traditional dance, karate and other martial arts performances, a kimono fashion show and viewed Japanese-American history exhibits.

This year's featured guest was Taikoza, a nationally renowned New York City-based Taiko music group.

Twitter: @remims