(Minghui.org) Hyakumangoku Matsuri, the main annual festival in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, is always held on the first Saturday of June. Falun Gong practitioners in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Kanazawa participated in the celebration by performing traditional Japanese dances and distributing small origami lotus flowers with the words “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”　

The word "Hyakumangoku" means one million units (one unit means enough rice to feed a person for a year). The festival commemorates the entry of Lord Maeda Toshiie into Kanazawa Castle in 1583. During the festival, one can enjoy Japanese traditional drums, lion dances, and other performances. This year’s celebration was the first since the pandemic that brought all festivals to an end. The organizers estimated that 390,000 people attended the celebration on June 3, 2023.

This was the first time that Falun Gong practitioners had participated in the Hyakumangoku Celebration. During the event, they performed traditional Japanese dances and let more people know about Falun Gong.

Falun Gong practitioners participate in the Hyakumangoku festival parade on June 3.

The highlight of the ceremony was the Hyakumangoku Festival Parade. Falun Gong practitioners in bright yellow T-shirts and white trousers were eye-catching among the dance performances. Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioners unfurled banners displaying the words “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” is good to introduce the practice to the onlookers.

When the Falun Gong practitioners performed in front of the main observation platform, the moderator of the celebration introduced Falun Dafa to a welcoming audience. After the dance, a Japanese youth shouted in front of the Falun Gong practitioners: “Falun Dafa is good!”

During the parade, practitioners handed out small lotus flowers and told people about Falun Dafa being spread throughout the world and the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the practice in China. Some people asked the practitioners for a small lotus flower.

Distributing lotus flowers and telling the audience about Falun Gong’s spread worldwide.

A practitioner handed a small lotus flower to an elderly man and told him, “Sincerely recite the phrases ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’ and you will be blessed. Falun Dafa teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and to improve human morality. Falun Dafa has spread to many countries throughout the world.” The man thought well of such principles and thanked the practitioner for the flower.

Handing a child paper lotus flower

A Vietnamese practitioner wanted to give a lotus flower to a young girl. After getting her mother’s permission, the girl was very happy to accept it and thanked the practitioner.