October 11 & 12, 2008
Tadotsu Festival & Daruma-sai '08
The second Tadotsu Festival was held for two days on October 11th and 12th, 2008, and the annual Daruma Festival was held on October 12th. Tadotsu Festival is an event co-organized by various active local volunteers of Tadotsu, and Daruma-sai is an event of Kongo Zen Sohonzan Shorinji started by Kaiso.
The Day 1 of the Tadotsu Festival was named "Daruma Light Fiesta", held on the road in front of the Tadotsu Station which was temporarily made free of vehicle from 17:00 to 21:00, with various food stands. The program consisted of a music parade by the local unit of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Shorinji Kempo embu by 300 kenshi, "shishi-mai" or traditional lion dances, Tadotsu Quiz, "daruma-san ga koronda" (a children's game similar to "red light, green light".), and dance performance by university students. The game "daruma-san ga koronda" was participated by both members and non-members of Shorinji Kempo, and Ms. Yuuki So, Chairperson of the Shorinji Kempo Group, played the role of "it" counting to ten.
The Day 2 of the festival was held with the main stage on the parking lot of the Shorinji Kempo Headquarters, where several different performances were given. Food stands were set also on the front yard of the headquarters. In the morning, Kongo Zen Sohonzan Shorinji was holding an annual memorial service at Hondo, followed by embu-kai with 120 performing kenshi.
The students of Zenrin Gakuen offered their annual project "haunted house" in Kodo, attracting local children as every year.
