平成29年8月のメッセージ（英語表記あり）

From July 5th and 6th, there was heavy rain for several hours over northern Kyushu. After Kyushu, the Kanto and Tohoku areas also had heavy rain. There was heavy damage in these areas. We express our deepest condolences to those who died and we deeply sympathize with the victims. We pray for the areas to return to normal as soon as possible. We are installing six donation boxes in Kamikawa and are accepting donations. We hope the townspeople will cooperate.

On July 1st, the "Summer" events along the Ochi River's famous waters highway were held. In the evening, firefly and summer festivals was held at Shinden Furusato Village. At the festival, there was a balloon performance and super ball scooping. The children were very happy. The beautiful fireflies' dancing was so beautiful I lost track of time.

On July 2nd, the vote for the Governor of Hyogo Prefecture was held and the percentage of voters in Kamikawa was 68.38%. It was the second largest percent in Hyogo. The high percentage of voters means the town is interested in politics. Thank you for your cooperation.

On July 9th, a summer cleaning strategy event was held. Everyone helped to clean the town. The townspeople are continuing to clean on a daily basis. We thank you for your assistance. Please go sightseeing in beautiful Kamikawa.

On July 16th, the Hase Station Summer Evening Festival was held to promote taking the Bantan line and to revitalise the region. Thank you for taking the JR service. 113 people used the Bantan Line, doubling the amount from last year. There were more than 300 visitors for the festival and it was more lively than last year.

On July 17th, the Kanzaki-gun Children's Society Ball Game Tournament was held at Kanzaki Elementary School. In volleyball, the Fukumoto team won the championship, with Ochidani Union team coming in second place. The children of Kamikawa played at a high level. The children's attitude towards playing softball and volleyball was very good and it made their parents very happy.

On July 24th, the 8th community round table meeting was finished. The last area was Kawakami-ku. We received many opinions, especially about revitalization and child-rearing support. On July 10th, Kamikawa signed an agreement with the national Housing Finance Agency to lower the mortgage rate on "Flat 35". There are various conditions on this grant. I would like to continue hearing your opinions on this and reflect it in the policy. I look forward to your cooperation.

August has begun. The town's mascot character "Kamin" is taking part in the annual "Yuru Character Grand Prix 2017". The voting had begun and the voting method is published in the August public information paper. Please vote to spread the names of Kamin and Kamikawa town nationwide.

On August 5th, the 12th Kamikawa Summer Festival will be held, which is the biggest event during summer vacation in Kamikawa. This year's theme is "Kamikawa is the best! From Kamikawa to the world! We love local fireworks". It will take place at the Kanzaki Elementary School grounds from 6:30pm. There will be the Kanzaki Nursery school drum parade, Kamikawa Junior High School brass band, Kamin dance, Bon Odori dance and various stalls. To finish the evening, there will be 1000 fireworks firing so high your neck will ache from looking at them. We are looking forward to welcoming many people to the festival. There will not be a lot of parking, so please take the free shuttle bus to the festival. If you take the bus, you can get a 100 yen voucher to use at the festival.

As of today on July 27th, the funding aim for the fireworks is 2500 fireworks funds per 1000 yen. But we still waiting for more cooperation to reach the target.

On August 20th, the Peace Memorial Movie Council, sponsored by the Kamikawa Town Bequest Association, will be held. The movie’s title is "Kono sekai no katasumini". It means "one corner of the world". It is a animated movie. The will feature the voice actress "Non" who is from Kamikawa. I have seen the movie at the theater and I liked the way family life was shown in the movie. It is a good movie.

"Non" recently featured in a Kamikawa publicity movie. It will be finished soon. The publicity movie will be screened for the first time at "The 3rd National Furusato Koshien", held at Tokyo Akiba Square on August 26th. Please 電話l your family and friends. Thank you helping to make the publicity movie. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Finally, from July 21st, the summer vacation has started and morning radio exercises have begun in various areas. In Kamikawa the radio exercises are broadcasted every day on the town's official announcement machine as part of health promotion. Please take care during the hot weather. The hottest part of the year is about to begin so please drink lots of water to prevent heat stroke. Let's make sure to keep healthy and happy during the heat.

This has been my August speech. Thank you very much.