Osaka: The six Tohoku prefectures, in collaboration with the Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization and the Tohoku Kizuna Festival Executive Committee, held the “Tohoku Four Seasons and Tohoku Kizuna Festival” at the 2025 Osaka, Kansai Expo from Friday, June 13, to Sunday, June 15, 2025. This festival aimed to unite the Tohoku region to express gratitude for global support following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and to demonstrate the region’s recovery progress.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the festival also served as a platform to showcase Tohoku’s world-class tourist attractions, including its nature, culture, cuisine, advanced technology, and people, to both domestic and international audiences, and to attract more visitors. During the opening ceremony on Friday, June 13, governors of the six Tohoku prefectures, other officials, local mascots, and MYAKU-MYAKU, the official mascot for the 2025 Osaka, Kansai Expo, greeted guests and participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Following the ceremony, a special event was held to showcase the festivals from the six Tohoku prefectural capitals. Originally scheduled for Saturday, June 14, and Sunday, June 15, the Tohoku Kizuna Festival featured summer festivals from six Tohoku cities. Due to inclement weather on June 14, performances were moved indoors. However, as weather conditions improved on June 15, the parade was successfully held twice outdoors.