About a month ago, a memorable event to deepen the friendship between Taiwan and Japan was held in Puli Town in Taiwan. The event was made possible by a proposal of Taiwanese people who were greatly concerned with Akiat's devastated economical damage by the Tohoku earthquake in March.
That is why we wanted to bring the Ishigami group to this event. Initially, they were not included in the program, since they were added on the bill at the last minute. However, we represent from Semboku City, which is one of the most visited touristic town of Akita Prefecture, so that we have to present some of our own traditonal arts as well!
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| Omagari Curry Umen (Noodle soup above) and Aigake Jindai Curry (bottom) were among the most popular dishes. |
The festival welcomed thousands of guests in the tropical Taiwanese town, with some delicious foods of Taiwan and Akita Prefecture (like Jindai Curry, Yokote Yakisoba, and Omagari Curry Umen) and stage performances of both Taiwanese and Japanese traditional culture.
About 120 people participated from Akita, among which were traditional arts performers like Oga Peninsula's Namahage-Daiko, Akita City's Kanto Group, and the last but not the least, the traditional dance practitioners of Ishigami Traditional Arts Preservation Group!
Although Kanto Festival and Namahage Festival have been already familiarized both domestically and internationally, Teodori dance （手踊り）, which is probably more regionally diverse and unique have as much attractiveness as other arts.
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| Tazawako's Ishigami group was intervied by local media! |
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| The parade with other participants. Lots of pictures were taken! |
That is why we wanted to bring the Ishigami group to this event. Initially, they were not included in the program, since they were added on the bill at the last minute. However, we represent from Semboku City, which is one of the most visited touristic town of Akita Prefecture, so that we have to present some of our own traditonal arts as well!
Despite of the sleepless bus rides and the unfamiliar tropical weather with heat and sudden downpour that totally overwhelmed us, these young girls beween 10 to 14 worked very hard to represent Akita, Tohoku, and Japan!
After the performance, a journalist in the crowd tearfully told us that she had never seen anything like it before and did not expect to see such beautiful, mature performance from girls so young that it touched her heart!
The event ended with a great success! During the festival, we met many genuine people in Taiwan, who worked so hard to help us through! We were able to share the traditional culture with the Taiwanese people, and so did they with us, Japanese people. The event certainly deepened our friendship beyond language and cultural differences. We hope to continue this forever!
Thank you, Taiwan! 謝謝、台湾！
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