2025 UCSD Annual Matsuri Festival: Japanese Culture, Food Booths, Games, Performances - Campus Library WalkNEW

Matsuri means “festival” in Japanese and is an annual night market held on Library Walk at UCSD. With a goal of displaying, promoting, and celebrating Japanese and Japanese-American culture, the event extends past the university to bring over 3,000 visitors from the greater San Diego area.

Festival Date
April 3, 2025, Thursday

Festival Time
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Food: Takoyaki, Yakisoba, Gyoza, Yakitori, Soba noodles, Ichigo Daifuku, Spam Musubi..

Festival Location
UCSD Campus Library Walk

Food Stage Games  Booth Map

Event Schedule
5:00 - 5:02: Intro
5:03 - 5:11: Chlyd
5:15 - 5:25: Wushu Club
5:29 - 5:39: Iaido
5:46 - 5:55: Kendo
6:00 - 6:15: Asayake Taiko
6:24 - 6:36: Polynesian Dance Company
6:40 - 7:10: Intermission
7:11 - 7:24: Bluemoon Sanitizer
7:30 - 7:42: GenBlue
7:47 - 7:57: Intermission
7:58 - 8:10: Mango Sticky Mice
8:20 - 8:30: Intermission
8:31 - 8:42: The Arkangels
8:53 - 9:01: KOTX
9:03 - 9:05: Outro

About Japanese Student Association and the Nikkei Student Union 

The Japanese Student Association and the Nikkei Student Union first came together in 2008 to carry out Matsuri. The first JSA/NSU Matsuri was held in May 2009, drawing over 1,500 UCSD students and Japanese members from the San Diego community. With such success, JSA and NSU decided to make this an annual event. Even though the pandemic has caused minor setbacks for the past couple of years, we are looking forward to Matsuri 2023 being back in person!

The Matsuri will feature a variety of events that showcase Japanese culture including game booths, food stalls, performances, and more that will give you an immersive experience into Japanese festivals! Each year, the purpose of this event is to expose Japanese culture to the students and staff of UCSD and other neighboring communities. Our website is a tool that is available to anyone who is interested to get to know more about Matsuri!

Japanese Student Association (JSA)
Japanese Student Association is a student organization that was founded in 2003 at the University of California, San Diego (hereinafter “UCSD”). JSA promotes awareness of Japanese culture on the university campus and provides students with a chance to experience a different culture. Mainly consisting of native Japanese, JSA aims to create a bridge between cultures.

Nikkei Student Union (NSU)
Nikkei Student Union is a student organization founded in 1988 at UCSD. NSU consists of people from all cultural backgrounds who foster an interest in Japanese-American culture. NSU provides a unique and open environment where people can gain an insight on the Japanese American experience and serves as a vehicle to promote awareness about Japanese and Japanese American culture, history, and issues.

Title
Annual Matsuri Festival - UCSD JSA+NSU (Japanese Culture, Food Booths, Games, Performances..) Campus Library Walk