Iitate, Fukushima Pref. ¨C For three days from Dec. 4, thousands of residents and visitors enjoyed a Shinto shrine festival held in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, for the first time in nearly 15 years.
The successful revival of the traditional event ¡°made me more eager to create a new community with people who care about the village a lot,¡± said Jun Yano, 30, a member of the festival organizing committee.
It had not been unusual for Yamatsumi Shrine, one of rare Shinto shrines dedicated to wolves, to be flooded with people and stalls during its annual festival before March 11, 2011, when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami devastated coastal areas of Tohoku, including Iitate.
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