Hundreds of dancers from northeastern Japan will descend on the Osaka Kansai Expo site in mid-June to showcase the flavor of the Tohoku region’s biggest summer festive event.
It will be the first time for the Tohoku Kizuna Festival to be held outside of the six prefectural capitals that make up the Tohoku region.
The executive committee chaired by Sendai Mayor Kazuko Kori announced the outline of the parade on May 13.
Approximately 550 people from the six prefectures will take part. The parade will be held twice daily on June 14 and 15 at the “Matsuri” outdoor event plaza for about 50 minutes each time.
The Tohoku Kizuna Matsuri was first held in 2017 by incorporating the Tohoku Rokkonsai Festival that started in 2011 to repose the souls of the nearly 20,000 people who perished in the Great East Japan Earthquake and related tsunami disaster and to pray for recovery of the region.
The festival has been held in rotation once a year in each of the six capital cities. Last year, when it was held in Sendai, a record 572,000 people attended.
This year, for the first time, the festival will be held outside of the six cities. It will feature participants from the Aomori Nebuta Festival; Akita Kanto Festival; Morioka Sansa Odori Festival; Yamagata Hanagasa Festival; Sendai Tanabata Festival; and Fukushima Waraji Festival. The Sendai Tanabata Festival will feature Suzume-odori dance.
From June 13 to 15, tourist information and traditional craft workshops will be available at the venue.
“We hope that the expo will be an opportunity to learn more about the Tohoku region and promote its charms,” said an executive committee official.
AloJapan.com