For teachers

Good news for kids in Japan

2 classroom stories from Japan. For an adult to read with a class.

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Horses and riders in festival dress on a tree-lined approach to a shrine

Kikuma, Kamo Shrine

Twelve children galloped up to Imabari's Kamo Shrine

At the Kikuma festival, riders 15 and under raced decorated horses along a 300-metre shrine approach, a prefectural tradition with a history counted in centuries.

Verified · Ehime Shimbun

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A portable shrine riding on a decorated boat, with people gathered on the deck

Community

Okirai

Ofunato put a shrine on a fishing boat for the first time in 16 years

Niiyama Shrine's autumn festival, paused since the 2011 tsunami, sent a mikoshi around Okirai Bay. Neighbors answered with dances they had practiced for months.

Verified · NHK World

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