Today we went to a festival which was performed to pray for rain and a good harvesting season in autumn. It is a new festival that has only been held in recent years. Many men in fundoshi (an outfit similar to sumo wrestlers) carry portable shrines from around the station to the castle. They paused at times to throw the shrine into the air and lift it up and down. Each shrine weighs about a ton and there are around 50 people carrying it. Inside the shrine there are four young people playing a taiko drum. It was amazing to see such beautiful shrines up close and to hear the drumming and the chants of “usho yataii” (similar to heave-ho!). The shrines were then carried into the castle grounds. We then went to the park nearby where many food stalls had been set up and had a shared lunch of fried chicken, takoyaki (octopus balls) and of course toffee strawberries and toffee grapes! I saw many students today and they seemed excited to see me too! (It’s great to feel like a celebrity!) Festivals are so exciting and then there is always amazing food too!
Yataii Shrine
Shrines in front of the castle.
Students from my school.
View from the top of the Egret centre.
How classic is this! There were so many guys walking around all day like this!!! :)
3 comments:
I have never experienced a festival like this so I thought it was fantastic!!
That last photo cracks me up! I couldn`t believe how these guys were just casually walking down the street with no pants on like it was an everday occurrance!
wow thats the best seeing guys walking around with hardly nothing on i would bring a camra and take some pictures
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