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Garuda Indonesia participates in Shingen-ko Festival to boost RI-Japan relations
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The Shingen-ko Festival is an annual event held on the first or second weekend of April to celebrate the virtues of Takeda Shingen, a very famous warlord from the Sengoku era. (Shutterstock/File)
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia participated in the 2017 Shingen-ko Festival in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, on April 8.
The Shingen-ko Festival is an annual event held on the first or second weekend of April to celebrate the virtues of Takeda Shingen, a very famous warlord from the Sengoku era.
Its main attraction is the Koshu Battalion Deployment on the main street of Kofu, the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture.
This year, the festival was held from April 7-9.
About 40 people formed the Garuda Indonesia team, including airline staff, Indonesian celebrities and Japanese residents.
Dressed in samurai armor, the team, led by Garuda Indonesia president commissioner Jusman Syafeii Djaman, marched for at least three kilometers along the main street of Kofu with 1,500 other festival participants.
Local Japanese residents and foreign tourists gathered to watch the festival and cheered for the Garuda Indonesia team, especially when Jusman shouted a war slogan in the Japanese language.
(Read also: Minister Susi to visit Japan to offer investment opportunities)
Jusman explained that Garuda Indonesia’s participation in the festival was intended as a reply to the visit of Hitoshi Goto, the governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, to Garuda’s headquarters last year.
“We also want to develop the tourist sector in both countries, as well as strengthen the friendship between our two nations that is about to reach the 60-year mark,” he said.
In an official statement, Garuda Indonesia named Japan and Yamanashi Prefecture as important markets.
Presently, the airline serves routes to Japan (Tokyo and Osaka) from Jakarta and Denpasar. (asw)
