WEBVTT

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- [Jaxson] Service
members and their families

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from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni

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joined Marine Corps Community
Services' Cultural Adaptation

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to experience Tondo Matsuri
in the Kawashimo neighborhood.

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Tondo Matsuri is a
festival centered around

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a bonfire in Japanese communities
to promote good health

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and luck in the new year.

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- I love being here because being stuck

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in kinda like your own
little bubble all day long,

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five days a week, going to
work, doing everything else

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and then being able to,

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the opportunity to actually go outside

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and experience something
new is tremendous to me.

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My time here in Japan has been wonderful

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because of events like this.

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- [Jaxson] Iwakuni residents
brought their wreaths

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from their New Year's celebrations

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to place on the mound for the bonfire.

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Local businesses prepared mochi,

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a Japanese rice cake for everyone

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as a part of the New Year's tradition.

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Mr. Tetsuo Samita,

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a representative for the
Kawashimo Chamber of Commerce,

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expresses the importance
of exchanging cultures

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with both Americans and
Japanese as neighbors.

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(speaking foreign language)

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- The Kawashimo area is very
close to the US military base

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(speaking foreign language)

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and we have to coexist with them.

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(speaking foreign language)
(flute music)

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We would like to participate
in various events

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(speaking foreign language)

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in order to share in
each other's cultures.

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(speaking foreign language)

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And we want to actively
participate in base events.

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(speaking foreign language)

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(flute music)

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- During the festival,

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kannushi or priests from the Shinto faith,

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came to the ceremony to
perform various rituals

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and prayers for everyone as the fire rose.

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Reporting from Iwakuni, Japan,

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I'm Lance Corporal Jaxson Fryar.