What Is Obon?

Our Venue, the Mendocino Art Center (MAC), is the birthplace of the deep connection between Mendocino and Japan.

Bill and Jennie Zasha, the founder of MAC, visited Japan at the first time in 1964. It was an extraordinary opportunity for them who loved Japanese arts, philosophy, and culture. Being aspired by Hiroshige, a famous Japanese woodblock print artist, Bill wanted to create his version of Tokaido Goju-San Tsugi, Hiroshige’s masterpiece with 53 prints from various towns and places on an ancient trail from Tokyo to Kyoto. Despite of his original plan, Bill only took nine more trips to Japan over 20 years to complete his work, “Tokaido Journey.”

On this trip, though, the magic happened. Bill met Tōshi Yoshida, a printmaking artist for the first time. Their friendship strengthened over the years, and in 1971, Tōshi came to live and teach printmaking at MAC. This experience sparked Tōshi to create a Mendocino-Style Art Center in Japan. He eventually found an abandoned turn-of-the-century schoolhouse in the little village of Miasa in Nagano, Japan, and he built the place for creative people to live, make their arts, and share their talents to the community. Tōshi and Kiso Yoshida (wife) named it the BUNKA (“culture” in Japanese) Center.

Since then, this beautiful friendship led to establishing the official sister city partnership between Mendocino and Miasa (Miasa-Omachi). In 1992, The Mendocino Sister Cities Association (MSCA) officially joined the national organization, Sister Cities International, and MSCA was granted non-profit status in 1993. 

MSCA Student Exchange program marks 32 years in 2026, and so far over six hundred students and three hundred adults traveled to Japan, having life transforming experiences. In 2008, MSCA launched the Artist Exchange program, providing opportunities to the artists from Miasa-Omachi and Mendocino Coast interact with each other and have art shows together.

As a gift to the community, MSCA sponsors the Mendocino Obon Festival every August since 2023. We bring a day of authentic Japanese culture to share our passion and show our respect to the Japanese root, here, in Mendocino.

So, MAC is our HOME. Where else is more right for our venue?