Over 70 students gathered at Howell House last weekend for Bowdoin’s first-ever Sushi Party, an event sponsored by the Japanese department, which is part of Asian Studies.

Students were treated to tea and miso soup, followed by fresh sushi created by chef Shuji Oki. Oki provided a demonstration of his art, and students got the opportunity to roll their own sushi. Hiroo Aridome, senior lecturer in Japanese, delivered a short Japanese lesson to the guests with event organizer and Howell House resident Chan Tinsman ’16.

Last year, the Japanese department offered a sushi rolling night for Japanese students only. In an attempt to make its program more accessible, department faculty and students decided to open the event up to the campus. “This definitely turned out better than anything I could have hoped for,” Tinsman said. “We had to turn people away at the door — there just wasn’t enough room.”