Festival Faces
While waiting for Takeda Shingen (武田信玄) and Yamamoto Kansuke (山本勘助) to arrive at Takeda Jinja there wasn’t much to do but take pictures of people in the crowd. People were taking pictures of me, the token foreigner at the event, so I got in on the action as well.
First off, we have some of Takeda Shingen’s army.
Some Japanese ladies of various ages…
This dance group featured music and performances to welcome the main Shingen group and to see them off. It was almost comical given how un-Shingen era the style and sound was. I’ll put a video at the end of this blog entry so you can see and hear more.
The night before I arrived there was a Koihime Contest (湖衣姫コンテスト), or so my Shingen Festival program says. The winner got 300,000 yen (about $3,200). Was this the winner? I’m not sure. She was in the regiment with Shingen so I’m thinking she could have been the contest victor and won this honor in addition to the cash.
These were the festival faces people wanted to see the most, Takeda Shingen and the favorite of his 24 generals Yamamoto Kansuke. Takeda Shingen (on the left) was portrayed by Ikki Sawamura (沢村一樹) and Yamamoto was acted out by Goro Ibuki (伊吹吾郎). Both are apparently quite famous actors in Japan. I hadn’t heard of either.
April 19th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
You really got some wonderful people shots! They are really focused on the event.
October 28th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Thank you for these photos. I was there in ’88 as well and was given the opportunity to march down Heiwa Dori in the parade. As a result, I missed much of the remainder of the festival.