Saturday, July 20, 2024
The 38th Sunflower Festival Opening Ceremony was held at the Sunflower Village Lawn Square from 10:00 on Saturday, July 20th, 2024.
- 1 The 38th Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival 2024 and Sunflower Village Opening Ceremony will be held!
- 1.1 Moderator: Keiko Tsuzuki, Director of the Industry Division, Hokuryu Town Hall
- 1.2 Hokuryu Taiko Drum Performance
- 1.3 Opening remarks
- 1.4 Guest speech: Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki, Hokuryu Town: The main characters of the Sunflower Festival are the tourists!
- 1.5 Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) Mr. Sel
- 1.6 Hokuryu Town Council Chairman Nakamura Shoichi
- 1.7 Masahito Fujii, Chairman of Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce
- 1.8 JA Kitasorachi, Minoru Nagai, Representative Director of the Hokuryu District
- 1.9 Junichi Fukase, Chairman of the Hokuryu Land Improvement District
- 1.10 Masakazu Yoshio, Chairman of the Voluntary Association
- 1.11 Hokuryu Junior High School Sunflower Committee, Chairman Nagai Hisashi
- 1.12 Mochi-throwing: Mochi-throwing to pray for the success of the Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival
- 2 YouTube videos
- 3 image
- 4 Related pages
The 38th Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival 2024 and Sunflower Village Opening Ceremony will be held!
The 38th Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival 2024 will kick off on Sunday, August 18th, and will run for approximately one month.
Moderator: Keiko Tsuzuki, Director of the Industry Division, Hokuryu Town Hall

Hokuryu Taiko Drum Performance
Prior to the opening ceremony of Himawari no Sato, a magnificent performance was given by Hokuryu Taiko (representative: Nakamura Hiroyo).
The songs are "Yamabiko" and "Senrai no En (a representative work by Matsumura Kimihiko of the Matsumura Group of Japanese Taiko)."

Opening remarks
Yukio Takada, Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Sunflower Tourism Association
"This year marks the 38th Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival.
We would like to express our gratitude to the many people who have continued the event for 38 years, including our predecessors, and we hope that it will continue to be passed down to future generations.
We would like to express our gratitude to the people at Dairin Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Hokuryu Town, President and CEO: Oji Hideki) who worked so hard to plant 2 million flowers over 23 hectares, from the time the snow melted in spring until the seeds were sown.
The fields you can see in the background are still green, but the fields further back are already starting to show yellow flowers. From now on, 2 million flowers will be in full bloom over the next month.
Beautiful flowers attract weeds, germs, and insects. A variety of management tasks are required, making it a truly challenging endeavor for many people involved. Thank you very much.
On the right, the "Sunflowers of the World" grown by students from Hokuryu Junior High School are beginning to bloom beautifully. They grow 14 varieties of sunflowers from around the world. What's more, the students even act as guides for tourists during the Sunflower Festival. Thank you very much.
For the next 30 days, we will be working with town officials, people from the Sunflower Tourist Center, the Sunflower Maze, and many other stakeholders.
The Himawari Tourist Center shop sells safe and secure food, so we hope you will open your wallets wide and buy some.
I hope that all tourists will enjoy the 30-day Sunflower Festival and that it will be a success. Thank you very much."
Guest speech: Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki, Hokuryu Town: The main characters of the Sunflower Festival are the tourists!
"Every year, 200,000 to 300,000 tourists visit Hokuryu Town's Sunflower Festival.
People from many different countries come to our school, and our Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), Ms. Sel, plays a vital role in helping us.
Today, Hokuryu Town's mascot character, Himawari Saki-chan, is visiting us. I was originally supposed to wear the mask, but she declined, saying, "The mayor is old, so if he goes inside he'll collapse from the heat, so please don't." So today, someone else is wearing it in his place.
Events will continue throughout the month. The town will be busy preparing and welcoming the festival, but "the real stars of the Sunflower Festival are all of you who come!"
Please enjoy all aspects of it. I would like to make Hokuryu's sunflowers resound throughout the world. I look forward to your support!!!"

Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) Mr. Sel
"I'm from the Philippines and this is my 10th year in Hokuryu.
"I look forward to the Sunflower Festival every year. If any foreigners have any problems, please call me. I'll help you with anything!" said Sel as he greeted us.
Hokuryu Town Council Chairman Nakamura Shoichi
"We hope that we will be blessed with good weather again this year and that we will have a wonderful Sunflower Festival.
There is a soba restaurant inside the Himawari Tourist Center. I personally help out with making the soba there, so I hope you will come and try some soba. Thank you for coming today. Congratulations."
Masahito Fujii, Chairman of Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce
"Thank you very much for coming to Sunflower Village today.
The "Sunflowers of the World" that the junior high school students planted this year are beginning to bloom beautifully and healthily, so please enjoy them to the fullest! Thank you very much."
JA Kitasorachi, Minoru Nagai, Representative Director of the Hokuryu District
"We opened today, but the sunflowers are still blooming here and there. More and more beautiful sunflowers will bloom with each passing day, so please come and enjoy them!"
Junichi Fukase, Chairman of the Hokuryu Land Improvement District
"When it's time for the rice cake throwing, we'll throw them around here, so please come along, children. Have fun today too!"
Masakazu Yoshio, Chairman of the Voluntary Association
"I will do my best as a sunflower guide, so please support me!"
Hokuryu Junior High School Sunflower Committee, Chairman Nagai Hisashi
"Hello everyone! I'm Nagai, chairman of the Hokuryu Junior High School Sunflower Committee.
"Next Friday, July 26th, we will be holding the Sunflower Guide, where you can see sunflowers from all over the world, so please come!"
Mochi-throwing: Mochi-throwing to pray for the success of the Hokuryu Town Sunflower Festival
For the next 30 days, the moving drama of the magnificent sunflowers at Himawari no Sato will unfold. Don't miss it!!!
The beautiful sunflowers at Himawari no Sato have been lovingly nurtured with the love and spirit of cooperation among the people of Hokuryu!!!
With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers to the mystical sunflowers of Sunflower Village, who continue to shine brighter in the light of prayer for peace and spread smiles of happiness around the world...
YouTube videos
image
Related pages
| The 38th Sunflower Festival (Hokuryu Town, Hokkaido) is being held! Saturday, July 20, 2024 - Sunday, August 18, 2024 |
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❂ Duration: 30 days ❂ Area: Approximately 23 hectares ❂ Number of trees: 2 million ❂ Best time to see: Early August  |
◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)
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