Every June, the Yosakoi Soran Festival is held in Sapporo,
which, as many of you know, is where HFT’s home office is situated.

The festival was started by a University of Hokkaido student 17 years ago. Since its enthusiastic debut, it has quickly grown to become one of the biggest, most vibrant, and most eagerly anticipated summer festivals in all of Japan. The festival is also unique in that it centers on original dance routines, carried out by hundreds of dance teams, and generally conducted along a parade route or on stands set up in the center of town. It is held in the fine early days of June, and draws dance teams, both professional and amateur, from all over Japan and abroad.

HFT staff member leads the winning dance team

The festival includes competition between the dance teams, with voting by a panel of experts. Leading up to the festival, each team practices very hard in the hopes of earning recognition. One of the most consistently prestigious teams has been “Hiragishi Tenjin,” which is comprised of 130 members. The team won the competition this year, after being named the runner-up last year.

The leader of the Hiragishi Tenjin team is HFT’s own Mr. Tsuyoshi Anazawa, who is key regular member of our Finance Department. His team has participated in the festival in each of the past 16 years. It now boasts a brilliant history of six first-place finishes in the competition, with recognition as the runner-up on another six occasions.

The dance that his Hiragishi Tenjin team performed this year was a tribute to the strength of herring fishermen, who used to be numerous in this area. It included the rowing of a boat with oars, with lively cheers by the women members for the rowing performance of the men. The team unveiled a big float, 7-meters long and 3-meters wide, for the parade, with the spectators stunned by its size and splendor.

Whereas the team had not won first place in the competition for the past four years, Mr. Anazawa amply expressed his gratitude. He commented “our dancers gained strength from the frustration of the past four years; now, to the festival staff members, to our colleagues who have given us your support, and to all of the spectators, thank you all very much!”

Mr. Anazawa’s team was also rewarded by being asked to perform for world leaders during the G8 summit that was just held in Toyako, Hokkaido, this summer.