Twenty students from Miyagi Prefecture were among the thousands of people who took part Thursday in the 126th Parade of Roses in Pasadena, California.
A float sponsored by Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. unit featured students from the disaster-hit Tohoku region who are participating in a two-week cultural exchange in Southern California.
Seventeen-year-old Satsuki Koizumi, whose grandmother's home was washed away, said she was very grateful for the help the United States provided in the aftermath of the 3/11 disasters.