Fire Festival and Orchid Festival in Akabira City!

by Kazu

Have you ever heard of Fire Festival of Akabira city in Sorachi sub-prefectural area in Hokkaido?
On the slope of the debris-mountain of coalmine, the letter of
 " 大 " is drawn with fire.
Males wear only red "Fundoshi", Japanese traditional underwear, and carry a sacred portable shrine called "Mikoshi" and entertain the god and pray for fertility of the year.
Lefthandside is the poster for advertisement of the festival.
It describes that " Once you wear a red fundoshi,  you can not stop wearing it. Once you see a red fundoshi, it would be irresistible for you. In Japan, so called "T-back" underwear had been for males ,not for females.     
The festival is held in summer and I will inform you all the date of it on this blog later. 

 Besides, Akabira City hosts another interesting annual festival called "Orchid Festival " in spring.
This year, that was held on April 20(Fri.), 21(Sat.) and 22(Sun.) as I announced before the event.

Righthand side is the orchid that won the first prize of the festival, Golden Ribbon award in 2011.
Lefthand side is the orchid that won the second prize in 2011.

These are the orchids that won the Blue Ribbon award in 2011.

I have not got the result of the competition this year but I think I will be able to  post it soon.

Beautiful flowers catch our heart and ease the pain of our mind. Akabira City is very famous in producing moth orchid and other kinds of orchid.
After the coalmine industry nose-dived in this area, Akabira City and its citizens had been struggling with the economic downturn and hyper-aging population. They have exerted their best effort to revitalize the area .
Baggage manufacturer ACE is in the city and makes elegant and light bags for tourists.
You may have the bag made by ACE in Akabira City.
Other than that, many businesses with state-of-the-art technology and cutting-edge took root in Akabira City.