Japan: Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in the 30th Annual Flower Festival in Hiroshima

The 2006 Flower Festival in Hiroshima was opened on May 3rd at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park with a theme of "Appreciation for the 30 Years of Flowers and Peace." The festival lasted three days. Since this was the 30th anniversary of the Flower Festival, more than 1.6 million people were in attendence according to the police statistics.

Falun Gong practitioners' waist drum team and exercise team	Falun Gong practitioners' dragon dance

During the flower festival parade, most of the teams were from local organisations, enterprises and schools. Falun Gong practitioners were invited to the parade four years ago and have participated in each of the parades since. Practitioners' parade featured elegant ladies in ancient Chinese costumes, a waist drum troupe, Dragon and Lion Dances and exercise demonstrations, all of which were welcomed by the spectators.

Compared to the parades in previous flower festivals, the exercise team was the newest performance this year. Also, in this years parade, practitioner's played larger drums as part of the waist drum team. This added more vigour to the drumming. The dragon and lion dances were also more vibrant than before.

After the parade when practitioners performed the dragon and lion dances as well as the exercises on a stage at the Peace Memorial Park. During this time, some onlookers learned the exercises.

Practitioners also collected signatures against the persecution near Peace Memorial Park. They passed out materials to expose the CCP's organ harvesting atrocities where CCP officials have removed organs from liveing Falun Gong practitioners and then cremated their bodies to destroy any evidence of their crimes. Practitioners also called for awareness of the genocide of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

During the collection of signatures, many people were shocked by the brutality of the CCP. After reading the display boards, a young man not only signed his name, but also helped practitioners to collect about a dozen signatures.

The flower tower in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The torch on the top stayed ablaze for three days, until the end of the festival.