Consul-General Fukushima participated in a summer festival hosted by the Austin-Oita Sister City Committee (July 13, 2019)

On July 13^th, Consul-General Fukushima participated in a summer festival organized by the Austin-Oita Sister City Committee. The sister city relationship between the Texas state capitol of Austin and the Japanese city of Oita will reach its milestone 30^th anniversary next year. In that time, the communities of each city have become deeply involved in cross-cultural and interpersonal exchange with residents visiting each other’s cities to participate in youth homestays, local cultural events, and city marathons among other events.
 
As part of the festival, a group of high school girls from Oita City staged a demonstration of “shodo performance calligraphy”, where they danced as a team while filling a large canvas with fine shodo calligraphy. A wide variety of Japanese cultural activities and food were also available. The festival was a wonderful occasion for local families from the Austin area to experience friendship with the people of Oita City.