InsideJapan News Network

Children in the earthquake-struck town of Ishinomaki were treated to a special show today (May 5th) at the Mangattan manga cartoon museum.

The performance, which was part of the Children's Day celebrations, included a battle between a buggy-eyed blue superhero and an evil sea monster and his ninja henchmen, the Associated Press reports.

Local residents opened a small generator-powered movie theatre for the special day, showing children's movies, while outside, giant streamers shaped like carp, a spring tradition in Japan, flapped from ropes tied to the roof.

Yukiko Takeyama, a local mother of two boys, aged four and six, said: "It's been a long time since the kids were this excited."

Japanese children and their parents queued for hours to get inside the popular museum, which has been closed for almost two months, ever since the devastating earthquake of March 11th.

The one-day event was scheduled to replace the normal week of celebrations in Ishinomaki, which would usually accompany the traditional Golden Week of holidays.

Written by Susan Ballion


Related news stories:
Japan hit by earthquake (15th March 2010)
Quake measuring 6.1 strikes northern Japan (4th December 2008)