Scenes from the 40th Annual Black Ships Festival

Posted 8/17/23

Check out photos from another lively Black Ships Festival, held in Bristol this past weekend.

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Scenes from the 40th Annual Black Ships Festival

Posted

Japanese arts and culture were on full display last Saturday in Independence Park as the Japan-America Society of Rhode Island (JASRI) hosted a Cultural Marketplace Fair, the centerpiece of the Black Ships Festival, which celebrated its 40th year in 2023.

The day featured performances by the Newport Navy Band, Taiko drummers, and Japanese artists, as well as origami making, a cosplay competition and parade, martial arts, food and crafts.

Celebrating the friendship and cultural ties between Japan and the United States, the festival commemorates the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's "Black Ships" in Japan in 1853. This year celebrates the 170the anniversary of Commodore Perry’s voyage. For more information on the Black Ships and JASRI, please visit JASRI.org.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.