The 36th SFC Tanabata Festival was held on the weekend of July 5-6, 2025. The festival was a great success, welcoming an incredible 13,291 visitors over the two days, and filling the entire campus with energy, smiles, and a vibrant atmosphere.
This year's Tanabata Festival theme was "Shiori," which means "bookmark" in English, representing the hope that the moments spent at the festival will gently remain in everyone's hearts, like a bookmark to return to in the future.
The opening ceremony was attended by Tsuneo Suzuki, the mayor of Fujisawa City, who offered remarks. The campus was adorned with numerous tanzaku--colorful strips of paper on which SFC students and local kindergarten and nursery children had written their wishes--bringing a gentle, heartwarming feeling to the campus. In addition to stage performances by students who had diligently prepared for this day, the festival offered a wide array of attractions and programs for all ages. These included a food area featuring popular local eateries, a game area with shooting and ring toss games for families, and free mock lectures by SFC faculty members. The large turnout from the neighboring area truly underscored SFC's strong connection with the local community.
On the first day, a sudden rain shower briefly disrupted some of the stage performances, but the performances and the audience were undeterred, and the shows quickly resumed. Much to the delight of eager participants, the fireworks, a Tanabata Festival tradition, also went ahead successfully in the evening despite concerns about rain. The combination of fireworks and songs related to this year's theme surely left a lasting impression on everyone.
We are deeply grateful for everyone's attendance, which contributed to the festival's great success. We hope that these moments have become invaluable memories, etched into the hearts of those who participated like a shiori. We look forward to everyone's attendance at next year's Tanabata Festival!
Photo by： Tsuyoshi Kishi
Released by: General Affairs Office at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC)