Tsunami Matsuri (festival)

Tsunami Matsuri is a festival that began in 1903 which is about to be 50 years since the tsunami in 1854. The festival is held on 5 November, which is the day when the tsunami of Ansei occurred, every year in order to comfort the spirits of people who died in the tsunami and to renew peoples’ resolve to tackle disaster prevention by thinking of the feats and virtues of Hamaguchi Goryo who established the Hiromura seawall. On the previous day, the local people clean the Hiromura seawall and the surroundings and prepare for the ceremony.
On the day of the event, people pile up the soil to the Hiromura seawall and the ceremony is held in front of the appreciation monument. At the ceremony, The Hiro Hachiman-jinja Shrine’s priest executes the priest and the town mayor, the organizer, makes a flower offering to the monument. In order to convey the history of reconstruction and the spirit of disaster prevention to the next generation, 6th grade Hiro elementary school students and 3rd grade Taikyu junior high school students participate with the local people in the festival. An evacuation drill to Hiro Hachiman-jinja Shrine is also held after the ceremony.