Japanese festival seeks participants

The Japanese Embassy is looking for people to participate in the Shiwasu Matsuri festival, which is part of the Korea-Japan Exchange Festival slated for Oct. 2-3 at Seoul Plaza, the embassy said yesterday.

The Shiwasu Matsuri festival, which marks 1,300 years of shared history, is a ceremony that recreates the story of how members of the Baekje royal family were separated at sea while traveling to Japan during a storm and then were reunited when they landed on the Japanese coast.

The Baekje Kingdom [18 B.C.-660] played a large role in helping Japan develop and the two countries maintained exchanges in Buddhism, art, culture and trade.

People interested in taking part in the festival need to register with the Japanese Embassy’s Japan Cultural Center by sending an e-mail to jcc@japanem.or.kr with names, phone numbers, T-shirt size, number of applicants with ages, and the date they want to participate.

All participants will be given free T-shirts (S/M/L). Registration will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Parents, children, couples and friends are all eligible. The embassy seeks 20 teams for the two-day festival, with each team consisting of four people.

By Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr]