| The
5th International Children's Day Celebration |
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*Please click to see photos of the event
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The 5th Annual
International Children’s Day Celebration (Shichigosan), held
in New York City the weekend of October 9 & 10, 2004 at The
Interfaith Center of New York, was a great success.
Sponsored by the International Shinto
Foundation, Inc., this year, almost 400 people attended the
event, 104 of them were children who received their special
blessings performed by Rev. Mitsutaka Inui at four different
ceremonies over the two days. Some traveled as far away as Canada
to attend the one-of-a-kind event in the NY area.
The program consisted of the blessings
as each child/children and their parents approached the altar,
then received gifts of traditional Japanese candy from Miko.
In addition, we were delighted to have the talented musicians
from the Tenri Cultural Institute to perform traditional Japanese
music during the ceremony as well as Koto performance by Junko
Inui.
We were honored to have the support
of the community from our co-sponsors; the Consulate General
of Japan in New York, Japan Society, The Japan Foundation in
New York, Nippon Club and for the first time this year, The
Interfaith Center of New York.
As we continue our efforts to support
other programs as well, the International Shinto Foundation
has, once again, donated a portion of the participants fees
in the amount of $1040 to UNICEF, to provide funding for needy
children. |
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