A city near Osaka recently put out a call asking foreign residents in Japan to apply to play the role of a feudal warlord in a local festival.
The government of Daito in Osaka Prefecture said it is looking for someone to play the role of Miyoshi Nagayoshi, a lord who governed the region and the island of Shikoku near the end of Japan’s “Sengoku” warring states period.
The person would play the role in the western Japan city’s samurai procession festival in March.
Supplied photo shows a flyer soliciting applications from foreign residents interested in playing the role of feudal warlord Miyoshi Nagayoshi at a local festival in Daito, Osaka Prefecture. (Kyodo)
The offer comes as the area gears up for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, which opens in April next year.
Applications are open to any foreign resident aged 18 or older who is willing to commit to participating in the March 1 parade. The city said it will provide the successful candidate with traditional armor and other costume elements to wear.
Miyoshi was born in 1522 in what is now known as Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku. He died at a castle located in Daito in 1564.
File photo shows people dressed in traditional costumes participating in the samurai procession festival in Daito, Osaka Prefecture, on March 2, 2024. (Kyodo)
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AloJapan.com