On July 25th, the Osaka Prefecture Association of Travel Agents (OATA, Chairman Tokuhara Masakabu) operated a chartered boat for the "Funatogyo" (Boat Parade) of the Tenjin Festival, one of Japan's three major festivals. This is an annual destination-based travel project, and this summer marked the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China, so about 300 people, including Liu Haisheng, Chief Representative of the Representative Office of the China National Tourism Administration in Osaka, and other Chinese dignitaries, boarded the boat. The Funatogyo is a Shinto ritual representative of the Tenjin Festival, in which more than 100 boats pass through the Okawa River that runs through the center of Osaka, and about 5,000 votive fireworks are launched from the riverbank. OATA's chartered boat, the "Okinpei-sen," is one of the largest boats that participate in the Funatogyo procession, and this year's tickets for the 300-person capacity were quickly sold out. Passengers boarded the boat wearing matching happi coats, exchanged "Osaka-jime" (a traditional Japanese song for the procession) with the other boats and spectators on the bridge, and enjoyed the seasonal summer scenery.