Tohoku Rokkon Festival in Akita this May Akita natives Yasushi Akashi, Mitsu Dan, and other prominent figures from various fields volunteered their support

The Tohoku Rokkon Festival Executive Committee held a press conference in Akita City on January 20th, announcing the "Tohoku Rokkon Festival 2015 Akita" will be held in the city on May 30th and 31st.

The Tohoku Rokkon Festival, which brings together the six major Tohoku festivals—Aomori Nebuta Festival, Akita Kanto Festival, Morioka Sansa Odori, Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, Sendai Tanabata Festival, and Fukushima Waraji Festival—was first held in Sendai City in July 2011 with the aim of raising a beacon of hope for recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. It has since been held in Morioka City, Fukushima City, and Yamagata City.

This year's theme is "Shine." In addition to a parade featuring the six Tohoku prefectural festivals along Sannō-dōri Avenue, stage events will be held. The May 30 parade will be held in the evening, marking the first time lanterns will be lit during the festival. A Tohoku regional products market and promotional booths for the main festivals will also be set up, with an expected attendance of 225,000 people over the two days. Furthermore, five prominent figures from Akita Prefecture (Yasushi Akashi, Makiko Uchidate, Nozomi Sasaki, Mitsu Dan, and Toshiro Yanagiya) will participate as volunteers in the "Support Akita Team," energizing the event through various activities.

At the press conference, the six Tohoku mayors expressed their enthusiasm. Takuya Takahashi, a first-year high school student and calligrapher from Morioka City who created the festival's title calligraphy, wrote the theme character "Kagayaki" (Shine) for this year.