If nothing else, this festival got our faces known in the neighborhood. Most Japanese are hesitant to say anything to a foreigner, in part because they don’t know if the person can speak Japanese. However, once that initial wall comes down they are the friendliest people on the planet. We made lots of friends during the day’s events.

The people in the above picture are serious festival lovers. They weren’t local. Rather, they travel around and participate in whatever weekend festival is currently taking place. We chatted for a long time and swapped numbers. I assumed that would be the last we’d hear from them, but they have already called to invite us to other matsuri.

They carried the mikoshi nearly all day and were in on the final demonstration which looked like a mosh pit. This picture was after they had freshened up about a half hour after the mikoshi had been placed. If you think they look spent and sweaty here, you should have seen them 30 minutes before!

My shoulder was seriously bruised for days and my quads were killing me the next day, yet I only carried it for about ten minutes. I can’t imagine what hours under it would have been like, let alone wanting to go at it again every weekend.

Here is a close up photo of the mikoshi (with wagasa) during one of the brief rests.

After all was said and done we went to return the Happi Coats we had borrowed on the prior day. Our neighbors insisted we join them for food and drink on the street corner. They stuffed us really good with gyoza, pizza (with toppings of squid and shrimp), and yakitori. Every time I took a sip of my drink it was immediately refilled by one of the many people sitting nearby.

Sorry about the quality on the above picture. It was taken after most people had left and the rest of us were parting. It doesn’t quite capture the mood and scene from 20 minutes before, but my son and I were pinned in and couldn’t take a photo any earlier. I enjoyed the dialogue with my neighbors. Now they know who the local foreigners are, that we’ll be here for a year, and that we can actually converse with them.

The above video is of the approach and entrance of the mikoshi back to its home after spending the prior seven hours going around town on the shoulders of its carriers. There was a men’s chorus, who you will hear and see at the beginning of the video, leading the mikoshi back through the torii gate. Hang in there until 1:40 in the video where things will pick up. The mikoshi will now rest away, out of view, for the next three years before its next journey.

Posted on October 2nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: lanterns, matsuri, shinto, video. Comments: 4

Every time the mikoshi was scheduled to stop somewhere, a guy would appear on a box and begin directing it in to its parking space like someone helping an airplane into the proper gate.

At the end of the day a speech was made which included the admonition to continue these traditions by including the ever-shrinking population of Japanese children in them.

At the first rest spot a Shinto ceremony took place. I wasn’t quite close enough to hear what was said.

I’ll leave you with a video I took from the first night’s festival. This was my first real video with my TZ7. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by the quality of photos the TZ7 has been taking, but this video came out much better than I was anticipating. Not only were the lighting conditions horrible, but I was far from the stage. However, the sound and video are both very good.

Posted on September 18th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: matsuri, nishi-waseda, shinto, video. Comments: 1

Ever since the aforementioned Bon Odori, signs have been going up, and we have observed preparations, for our local shrine’s omikoshi matsuri. Saturday, the 5th, featured the children’s version (kodomomikoshi). While we watched the procession, the man directing the kids struck up a conversation with me and invited us to participate in the following day’s event. He told us to borrow some Happi Coats from the local sake dealer which we did.

At 9 o’clock on the morning of the 6th we arrived at 天祖神社 (our local shrine) decked out in our new Happi Coats and all ready to lift the mikoshi, bounce it up and down, and wave it back and forth through town. I wasn’t so sure we would get the chance given that there were hundreds of people looking to do the same and only space for a couple dozen lifters at a time.

The local elders (to the right of the above photo) gave speeches before we began, telling us to be safe, enjoy the great weather, and continue the tradition that had been happening for hundreds of years. They only take this mikoshi around town once every three years so we were lucky to be here at the right time.

The procession included not only the mikoshi but also boys dressed like Shinto priests, someone in a Tengu mask, a lady dressed in a traditional Shinto outfit with the above wagasa over her, and others.

I got my chance to carry the mikoshi at one point (that’s me on the far left) and quickly discovered that it doesn’t work so well when one person is more than half a foot taller than everyone else. Not only do the tall get stuck with far more weight, but they also tip the shrine a bit. This was a great experience, though, and I’ll post some more pictures soon…

Posted on September 17th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: festivals, japan pictures, matsuri, shinto. Comments: None