Hitachi Autumn Festival Great Festival on Folk Art and Entertainments The Folk Art festival is an autumnal event of Hitachi City

Hitachi Autumn Festival
Great Festival on Folk Art and Entertainments

The Folk Art festival is an autumnal event of Hitachi City. The festival is held on the second Saturday and Sunday in October every year for citizens to enjoy folk art and entertainment in Japan. This year’s event will be the 14th since the launch of the “Hitachi Traditional Folk Entertainments.” Last year we commemorated 400 years since the Satake Clan had moved to Akita Ken, by inviting groups of various performers well known for their folk entertainments. The Satake Family governed the region of Hitachi (current Ibaraki Ken). One of the Three Great Festivals of the Tohoku Region. “The Kanto performance using bamboo poles with lanterns” from Akita Ken, Nanbu-Tsugaru Te Odori (Nanbu Tsugaru dancing), Onikenbai (devil’s fencing dancing), Kakubei Jishi (street performance of wearing carved lion’s heads) represented many of other traditional folk dances. Particularly, the festival added the flavor of greatest entertainment with Sansa Odori, Hitachi’s folk dancing.
This year’s theme of the festival will be “Wind of Ryukyu” featuring art and entertainments of Okinawa, which will travel through the Chugoku region, the Miyake Island and the Sanriku Coast in the Tohoku region, flying with wind over the Pacific Ocean. Artist and entertainers across Japan will gather in Hitachi.

Sansa Odori

Okinawa's Folk Dance

1. Dates: October 9 (Saturday), 10 (Sunday), 2004.
2. Main Stage: Hitachi New City Plaza (in case of rain, it will be at the Hitachi City Hall), Satellite stage: “Kazusagawa Children’s Park. (Adjoined to Bonberuta Isejin), Mizu No Hiroba(See the map on bottom of 3rd　page)
3. Admission: free.
4. Program: see top of next page
5.Organizer: Hitachi Science and Culture Information Foundation
6.Secretariat: 〒317-0073　Hitachi Civic Center, 1-21-1 Saiwai-Cho, Hitachi
　Exchange Salon, Hitachi Science and Culture Information Foundation
Contact Persons: Sekiya, Tomobe
Tel:0294-24-7711　E-mail:　salon@civic.jp

**Schedule of Hitachi Autumn Festival**
Date	Place	Time	Performance
October 9	Main Stage	17:00～	Hitachi Arauma Odori（a nursery schools in Hitachi）
October 9	Main Stage	18:00～　20:00	Performances by Folk Art Inheriting Groups in Japan:Heshikiya Eisa, Ryukyu Palace Dancing, Shima Uta (island song representing Okinawa)　　　Urahama Nenbutsu Kenbu (fencing dance) (Iwate Ken), Chugoku Shishi Mai (Chugoku region lion dancing from Yokohama.)Miyakejima Kamitsuki Kiyari Daiko（Tokyo）
October 10	Main Stage	11:00～ 13:00	Folk Art and Dancing of Hitachi:Hitachi Drum Group, Hitachi Sansa Group
	Satellite Stage(Kazusagawa)	11:00～　12:30	Folk art and dancing across the nation:Urahama Nenbutsu Kennbu (fencing dancing), Miyakejima Drum performance, Eisa, Kotobuki Daiko etc.
	Satellite Stage(Mizu No Hiroba)	14:00～　16:00	Folk art and dancing across the nation:Eisa,、Kotobuki Daiko, Soran Folk song, etc.An event for the opening season of angler fish( demonstration of fish handling and soup cooking.)
	Main Stage	17:00～	Hitachi Arauma Odori: to be performed by a nursery school in Hitachi
	Main Stage	18:00～　20:00	Competition by Young People across JapanHeshikiya Youth Group, Haebaru High School (Okinawa Ken)Murayama Agriculture High School (Yamagata Ken)Kuji Junior High school, Kawarago Junior High school (Hitachi) and others
October 9,10	Main Stage Area		Booth of cooking stall “Oishii Genkimura”Tour of Hitachi civic stall “Sakura”

Places of events
A: Hitachi Municipal Office.
B: Kazusagawa Satellite Stage.
C: Bonbetuta Isejin.
D: City Hall. E: Civic Center.
F: New City Plaza. G: Mizu no Hiroba.
H: Fire Staion