Diablo Japanese American Club

We look forward to the Summer Festival every year. This year we took out friend, LL, who loved it.
We got there early before the 12 noon opening time. This gave us time to set up a place in the large sheltered eating area and to see the Bonsai exhibit before the food booths officially opened.
I noticed they now have two ATM machines across from the crafts/​teeshirt booth.
The prices are still very affordable. There is a wide variety of food including:
Beef Teriyaki – 3 skewers for $ 6
Chicken Teriyally love this summer festival i Plate-​¼ chicken (white or dark), rice, edamame, cucumber salad.
Hamburgers – didn’t check out the price
Udon – again didn’t check the price.
Tempura Plate (Veggie or veggie with shrimp) and dipping sauce (forgot the price)
Freshly fried tempura by a team of 20 or so people prepping, cooking, assembling
the plates. Very tasty. A generous serving of carrots, yams, broccoli, onions, green beans
fried to a delicate, crispy perfection!
Sushi –Inari, veggie, and fishy stuff, Individual or combo priced. Don’t remember the prices but very reasonable.
There were also game booths for kids. Looked very popular and fun.
We looked at the bonsai exhibit. My late dad used to make bonsai trees so I always feel a little tug at my heart whenever I see a Bonsai tree. One of the Bonsai creator was there and told us that this one tree he had worked on was 300 years old. I love Bonsai especially the ones that look like little forests.
After we ate we went into the main hall to look at the Ikebana (flower arrangements). Beautiful and such a variety of styles. There were a couple of the creators there. They very humbly and sweetly told us about their creations. My late mom learned Ikebana. She also took many many other art or craft classes and was good at them all. Her real passion was orchids.
Her orchid plants thrived and loved her caring for them.
On a slight tangent —-you would think that having both parents with super green thumbs would make me a person that plants loved too. Wrong! My thumbs are so brown that when I go to a nursery or a botanical garden I imagine the plants are cowering and saying, «Please please don’t come near me I don’t want to d… i…e!»
Nevertheless this festival takes me back to my childhood in LA when my family was totally involved in the Japanese American community with it’s many picnic get together with dozens of people or the gatherings of relatives at my parents’ house with mountains of food.
I love the Obon season and especially love the festival the Diablo Japanese American Club puts on every August. It takes a TREMENDOUS amount of planning and hard hard work to pull off such a wonderful event. Many many thanks to them for putting on a festival that the whole community enjoys.

Good music but no ATM and staff was rude when I asked, recommending I walk a half mile to the bank.

I come here at least once every year for the local Japanese festival. The highlights for me are always the teriyaki skewers and shaved ice. This year I tried their udon for the first time and it was surprisingly delicious. It’s making my list for next year.

This is one of my favorite festivals every summer. This is not my hometown obon, but I like the atmosphere that the Bazaar has. My family makes the jello peach pies that they sell in the bakery.
The food is delicious here; it’s better than a lot of summer festivals. Their tempura is excellent and it is one of the only festivals that serves two shrimps. I also love that their tempera is packed with green beans and onion rings! The udon and teriyaki chicken are also very good. The snow cones are big, but they cost $ 4 (too pricy for me). The bakery has a nice variety of baked goods and they serve Haagen daz, mmm.
There is a nice variety of entertainment and exhibits. If you like taiko, Japanese drums, Diablo Taiko and San Jose Taiko perform. There are also kendo and judo demonstrations as well as ikebana and bonsai exhibits. The game booths are always fun and they require you to buy tickets. The raffle is always popular and it is connected to a craft booth.
I appreciate all the tables and chairs they have for people to sit in. This area is also shaded which is very nice. The grassy area has plenty of room to watch the performances and the odori dancing. Even though Diablo can get pretty hot, don’t miss out on this festival!

I went to the Japanese festival here over the summer and I must say, this is a lovely place. There were so many booths and vendors that it was totally worthwhile. Even though it was hot out, there were plenty of shady areas and everyone was really friendly and nice. I loved the bonsai tree exhibit, the taiko dancers, the crafts and of course, the food.
Things were reasonably priced and everything went to a good cause. If you’re looking for something different, come check it out and see what events they have here.

Beef and chicken teriyaki were a hit. Come late when the performances start even though the heat will be over 100 degrees.

Love to come out & support their annual summer Obon! Given it feels like it’s always 200 degrees the weekend of and you have to park blocks and blocks away its a GREAT way to hang out, grab a cold drink & eat to your hearts content. All in support of a great organization. I always want the udon but can’t never can because of the sun & body heat surrounding me at the table during the event. But everything else no holds barred! We go for the gold and drop $ 5 a beer (small kirin or sapporo), $ 7.50 for chicken teriyaki, $ 5 for 8 gyoza, $ 2.50 for dessert plates, & unknown amounts on the sushi & beef skewers. All in all its for a good cause. I’m a huge supporter of all Bay Area Japanese American bazaars & obons. So if this is how I can help contribute I don’t mind one bit.

Every summer there is a festival full of food and fun! Like a small carnival, there are a lot of games to play and things to see or purchase. I give it four stars because parking can become a little tedious to find as well as far, and the weather permitting it can be too hot to be out. All in all a great festival! :)

I went Sunday, even in the heat!
This was a great event. I have been to summer Bazaars, Matsuri, Obon Odori, Street festivals (they’re called different things in various locations) in San Francisco, Phoenix, Mountain View, San Jose, Alameda, Monterey, and Salinas, (and some in Japan, too) and this one in Concord is one of the better community ones.
It was well organized, with a good sized venue. It had the typical things you see at these summer Japanese Community events, like Bonsai and Ikebana exhibits, Kendo and Classical dance demonstrations, booth games for the kids, the Obon Odori Folk dancing, Raffle prizes (like a trip for two to Japan!), Taiko Drum entertainment and of course lots of Japanese food!
The Tempura plate was $ 7.50, 8 Gyoza for $ 5, Maki/​Inari Sushi 5/​$ 3.50, Teriyaki 5 sticks for $ 5, good deals! If you came late, they reduced the Tempura price to $ 5. Huge Shaved Ice (you needed this in the searing heat!) $ 2.
The Emeryville Taiko Drums crew was great, very lively. The Drums and Kendo took volunteers so you could join in. Of course, the Obon accepts all that want to dance. Mostly woman in beautiful summer Yukatas or the classical dance group in their beautiful white Kimonos.
Lots of cute girls in their Japanese attire.
The only thing that I found popular in Japan that they might try here, is a Karaōke stage for the kids. It was fun to see kids singing to the latest J-​Pop, or over here, the latest pop tunes. Keeps them from getting restless, too, while the adults try to learn some Japanese culture.
This is a great summer family event in Concord every year. I will come back again!

I’m not one to visit the city of Concord because I know next to Livermore, Concord is the hottest bay area city when the temps heat up. But this Japanese summer festival was one worth visiting.
The beef terayaki and chicken terayaki were both very flavorful, moist and the scent in the air made you want to come back for more. I was ready to start asking for the secret sauce but I would have probably been taken away by some ninjas with swords. Tempura was light, tasteful and even on a warm day enjoyable. The gyoza were handmade and very good too! I was surprised they offered beer, domestic and japanese (sapporo), one of my favorites.
To top it off they offered these huge shaved ice concoctions for $ 2.00. I felt like a little kid again.
For entertainment they had differents groups with their festive drums and dancing. I missed the martial arts portion because the girlfriend and I were thowing ice at each other from the shaved ice. Very impressive flower arrangements, bonsai collections and other traditional drawing and painting.
Plus I like the fact that they had setup booths for children so they would not get bored. Hats off to the Diablo Japanese Amercian Club for setting up this event.

The ambiance is fantastic. I love all the great food and drinks. The prices were so inexpensive. The drums and martial arts exhibitions were awesome. If you Love Japanese food and culture this is a must go to event. I go every year and have a great time. The exhibits in the hall, buying the flowers and other items. Lots of stuff for the kids to do to.

I went with Bee D. first thing I bought was a beer (draft $ 2 Bud and light only) and sake $ 2 for myself and Mr. Bee. Found him in the LONG tempura line. He thought it was water because it had ice in it haha. The health inspector hadn’t come yet apparently but I jumped in the sushi line anyhow and we waited and waited and sadly didn’t get any spicy tuna but settled on other things. And the nice young lady in front of me held my spot while I ran over to the bake shoppe to get two of the few pink mochi they had.
All in all we had a great time. Thanks so much for letting us know =]

^Link to event page

This group wins the throw-​down! Iron Chef, indeed! Their Summer Festival is the BEST! 5 stars for having tempura & gyoza. The other summer festivals have chicken and beef teriyaki, but tempura and gyoza are rarities. The tempura this year was tender and crispy as ever and the shrimp were very succulent. I received reports that the tempura sweet potatoes were extra tasty, but I don’t like sweet potatoes. The gyoza were plump, but mine were just a tad overcooked. The bonsai had several trees in fruit, the suiseki looked stoned and the baby trees were very small. The very best aspect of this gathering is the truly mellow ambiance.