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TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki Prefecture--Tensions between Japan and South Korea may be at a fever pitch, but that didn't stop a colorful procession of "Korean envoys" from parading here close to the border between the two countries. Dressed as diplomats visiting Japan during the Edo Period (1603-1867), about 50 Koreans, joined by about 250 Japanese, participated in the annual Izuhara Port Festival on Aug. 4 on Tsushima island. South Korea's Busan city officials and members of the National Assembly canceled their appearance amid strained relations between Japan and South Korea. Tokyo removed Seoul from its list of preferential trading partners on Aug. 2. The "envoys," however, confirming the importance of continuing exchanges between the neighbors, paraded for about 1.5 kilometers, arriving at Banshoin, the family temple of the So clan, head of the Tsushima domain who received them during the Edo Period. Friendly messages were exchanged between the two sides, containing the words of Confucian scholar Amenomori Hoshu (1668-1755) of the Tsushima domain, who encouraged "not cheating and fighting with each other, but rather engaging each other with open minds." Dressed as the Tsushima domain lord, Masaru Yamaguchi, the commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force troops stationed on Tsushima, read out, "Let's spread Hoshu's words around the world, as they are a peace heritage from the days of the Korean envoys." Outfitted as a senior Korean envoy, Nam Song-woo, professor emeritus at Pukyong National University, replied: "I came here to convey the true friendship of the Busan people. It's important to find a way to resolve matters between Japan and South Korea by fostering cultural exchanges." The festival started in 1980, and the Korean envoys procession has since been staged in other Japanese and South Korean cultural events. In this year's event, a restored boat of Korean envoys that was to travel from South Korea to Japan was canceled just before the festival.