Editors note: The Sister City relationship of Oceanside and Fuji City was founded in 1991. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Sister City relationship, OsideNews will features a series of articles about Fuji, written by the Fuji City Tourism Division and Fuji-Oceanside Friendship Association.
Continued from previous Fuji-Oceanside sister city article
Every year at the end of July, the Fuji festival is held in Fuji city. I will tell you some features of this festival celebrated by many citizens.
The All Citizen’s Dance
On the main street in Fuji city called Aoba Street, citizens dance while proceeding through the street with the locals dancing ‘Fuji samba and Fuji Hayashi dance’. Since Fuji citizens perform these dances at school events and local festivals, everyone knows how to do these dances.
Kaguya Princess contest
A Miss contest named after the local legend of the Bamboo Princess or Kaguya Princess. What is the legend of the Bamboo Princess? Do you know the ancient Japanese tale of the bamboo cutter?
Written in the middle of the 10th century, it is the first story written in unique Japanese kana characters. It is a story of a moon princess born from a bamboo and is the most popular folk tale in Japan.
It is said that the story was staged in Fuji city and there are many monuments and traditions related to the Kaguya princess still remaining in the city.
Fireworks
The climax of the festival is a 4000 shot firework display. Beautiful fireworks are one of the features of Japanese summer. These days there are fireworks shaped like complex animation characters or Chinese characters.