The first Japanese Festival was held on February 8th, 2004.

The volunteers started setting up the venue the day before the event day, and took them close to mid-night to finish the set up. Cooking, rehearsal for the stage performances started around 7am in the morning on the event day.

The festival started at 10am. The event comers enjoyed the Japanese food that they don't usually see in Nanaimo. The food that they made were not only sushi, but they also made Japanese croquette, and pork soup called Ton-jiru. Japanese snacks and toys that they had at the event were actually brought from Japan and were very popular for the kids.

Calligraphy was one of the hands-on activities at the event and the visitors tried to write their favorite names in Japanese. Many people also experienced "Ura-senkei Tea ceremony" at the event. They learned the history of tea ceremony, and experienced "ura-senkei" style.

The martial arts performances and the cultural performances by the students started in the afternoon and the theatre was packed with the audience. The first festival was a great success and had about 700 people.