Black Ships Festival

Odaiko New England performs at the Newport Black Ships Festival at the historic Cardine’s Field, one of our biggest performances of the year. We’re very pleased to return to Newport’s weekend-long festival celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened the Japanese ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to United States trade.  The “Black Ships,” or “Kurofune,” refers to the Japanese term for foreign ships.

Shimoda is now Newport’s sister city and also celebrates this festival.

The Black Ships festival is hosted by the Japan-America Society of Rhode Island.