Consul General Takahashi’s Visit to the 19th Manjiro Festival (October 4,2025)
October 10, 2025
On October 4th, Consul General Takahashi attended the 19th Manjiro Festival at the Town Hall of Fairhaven, MA.
Consul General Takahashi gave remarks at the opening ceremony, along with Mr. Gerald Rooney, President of Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship Society, Honorable State Representative Mark Sylvia of Massachusetts, Mayor Yo Hodooka of Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, which is the birthplace of Nakahama Manjiro, and Chairman Charlie Murphy of Fairhaven Select Board. In his remarks, Consul General Takahashi introduced that the Massachusetts House of Representatives adopted its first-ever resolution celebrating friendship with Japan, officially designating May 7th as "Japan Day" in recognition of John Manjiro’s (NAKAHAMA Manjiro’s) landing in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1843, last May.
This is a Japan-U.S. cultural exchange festival alternating between Fairhaven and Tosashimizu, John Manjiro’s birthplace and Fairhaven’s sister city in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, every year. This year, over 20 members including middle and high school students and citizens of Tosashimizu visited Fairhaven for this Festival. Attendees enjoyed the performance of Yosakoi Dance and calligraphy by the delegation, as well as other Japanese culture such as taiko drumming performance, ikebana (flower arrangement), foods, origami, and Kendama at the Festival.
Consul General Takahashi gave remarks at the opening ceremony, along with Mr. Gerald Rooney, President of Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship Society, Honorable State Representative Mark Sylvia of Massachusetts, Mayor Yo Hodooka of Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, which is the birthplace of Nakahama Manjiro, and Chairman Charlie Murphy of Fairhaven Select Board. In his remarks, Consul General Takahashi introduced that the Massachusetts House of Representatives adopted its first-ever resolution celebrating friendship with Japan, officially designating May 7th as "Japan Day" in recognition of John Manjiro’s (NAKAHAMA Manjiro’s) landing in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1843, last May.
This is a Japan-U.S. cultural exchange festival alternating between Fairhaven and Tosashimizu, John Manjiro’s birthplace and Fairhaven’s sister city in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, every year. This year, over 20 members including middle and high school students and citizens of Tosashimizu visited Fairhaven for this Festival. Attendees enjoyed the performance of Yosakoi Dance and calligraphy by the delegation, as well as other Japanese culture such as taiko drumming performance, ikebana (flower arrangement), foods, origami, and Kendama at the Festival.
Yosakoi Dance by Tosashimizu Delegation
Attendees of the Festival