The Kamome Festival brought Del Norte County students, schools, families, and community members together for a meaningful celebration of culture, creativity, preparedness, and international friendship. The festival honors the story of Kamome, a small boat from Takata High School in Rikuzentakata, Japan, that washed ashore in Crescent City after drifting across the Pacific following the 2011 tsunami. Del Norte High School students helped clean and identify the boat, helping spark a lasting friendship between two coastal communities.

Students from Del Norte County schools continued to play an important role in this year’s festival. Del Norte High School’s Japan Club sponsored Kamome Kon at Crescent City Cinemas, a free community event featuring anime-inspired activities, an art contest, a costume contest, and a showing of My Neighbor Totoro. The event gave students and families a fun way to celebrate Japanese culture while connecting back to the student exchanges and friendships that have grown from the Kamome story.

Del Norte High School students also contributed to the Kamome boat art initiative by designing hand-painted miniature Kamome boats in coordination with local community partners. The replica boats were crafted by DNHS art teacher Nunzio Lagattuta, and the wooden stands were cut by Eileen Silvey’s DNHS woodshop class. Sunset High School FFA students also represented their school well by designing and building a cardboard boat for the festival’s cardboard boat race, earning first place and building additional boats for members of the visiting Japanese delegation and local participants.

Throughout the festival, students had opportunities to learn about tsunami safety and preparedness, meet local first responders, engage with Japanese culture, and connect with visiting students and delegations from Rikuzentakata. Over the past decade, Del Norte High School students have traveled to Japan, while Japanese students and delegations from Rikuzentakata have visited Crescent City, strengthening a partnership rooted in resilience, friendship, and shared learning.