We Are Tomodachi Summer 2017

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5Shiogama Harbor Festival — July 17, 2017This festival began in 1948 in hopes of reviving local industry and bringing well-being to the people after the war. Ever since the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, it has had the additional purpose of bringing the souls of victims to rest and praying for a speedy recovery for the region. It is one of Japan’s three major boat festivals, during which mikoshi (portable shrines) from two different Shinto shrines are loaded onto boats and paraded around the harbor with up to 100 other vessels on a spectacular marine excursion.