Visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific at the fifth annual Autumn Festival last weekend in Long Beach, Calif., were treated to glowing jellyfish, dagger-sharp shark teeth, frisky sea lions and Japanese "taiko" drumming.
The yearly festival celebrates the richness of Asian cultures, including those of Japan, China, South Korea and the Philippines, and the animals that hail from these Pacific regions.
Visitors were invited to explore the arts, food, culture and marine environments of the Asian communities featured in the festival. Japanese cultural events included martial arts, origami, craft demonstrations, and the "one-man-band" wonder, Arthur "Art" Nakane.
Yoichi "Yama" Yamaouchi and Joe Hamamoto worked with enthusiasm at the Origami Magic booth, helping dozens of children take turns in shaping creatures of the Pacific Ocean out of colorful paper.