On August 17, Kiyomizu Grand Festival was held by local young people at Taga Shrine (Sakuraba, Hirosaki City) in the Higashimeya district of Hirosaki.

Taga Shrine, which has a history of more than 350 years, is the second hall of the Tsugaru 33 Kannon Shrine. It is said that the main shrine was built after the Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto. It is a shrine that worships "rats" in "Tsugaru Ichidaisama," who believes in the deity of the Tsugaru region and believes as a god.

Shimizu Grand Festival is a summer festival held at the shrine every year, but the number of prayers has been decreasing in recent years. Satoshi Yoshitani of the “Fun Togaya! Executive Committee” recalls, “Three years ago, many stalls stood side by side and it was a festival for children to remember their summer vacation.”

The executive committee formed by local youths cooperated with the festival by making full use of their core businesses such as apple farmers, carpenters, and car mechanics, in order to make the festival livelier. Mr. Yoshitani says, "I wanted children to experience the fun of summer vacation that they once had,"

At the festival, we are planning new prayers for children born in the same year and performances of Tsugaru Shamisen by Hirosaki University Tsugaru Shamisen Circle. A local programmer, Mr. Mikami, of “Palnet Hirosaki” (Obiuchi), provided a 3D image of a white rat made with a 3D printer and set up a coloring area.

Four local revitalization team members in Hirosaki City also cooperated in the festival, face painting the rats, and taking pictures. Ryoka Yoshida, who moved from Chiba to Hirosaki in April as the JOCV, said, “I had more local children than I expected, and I enjoyed myself.”

Mr. Yoshitani said, "Unfortunately it was raining due to the typhoon, but we were able to enjoy it from children to adults. From next year, we would like to make it an event that people can call from the outside."