Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A group of about 500 people celebrated National Flag Day – popularly known as the Hinomaru – in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo.

The participants in the parade, which has been organized since 2019, gathered in the open-air Hibiya amphitheater before crisscrossing the busy streets of the Ginza district in central Tokyo.

One of the speakers said that the festival was there to protect Japanese culture in uncertain times. The festival organizer FUKUYAMA Kenji clarified that the festival was originally held to celebrate the enthronement of the Emperor into a new era.

Young girls in ceremonial kimono listened to the national anthem at the start of the festivities and a violinist then played some atmospheric music.

Before the start of the demonstration, a marching band played Latin American rhythms and about 30 men dressed in red and white followed, waving large Japanese flags.

The parade divided into five parts and included groups of traditional dancers and musicians in the style of a matsuri (traditional festival). Other participants carried signs that read “protect the national flag.”