2014.9.6

It was fine and hot.

 

There was a festival of the local shrine.
Since I am a representative of my area, I went to help preparing for the foods and drink for those who parade with a portable shrine called omikoshi (お神輿).

At night there was karaoke contest. One of my friends from primary school sang a song as a representative of our area.  I happened to see another friend from primary school too. It's been so many years since I met her last.

And it's been so many years since I came to the festival itself too.

2012.9.8

It was very hot today.
There is once a year festival of the nearby shrine.  From the morning we prepared foods for the people who carry the portable shrine called omikoshi (御神輿) , play music called ohayashi (お囃子), and lead them and so on.  We started preparing around 8:30 AM and they arrived 11:20 AM or so. 

Last year a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Shinjiro Koizumi (小泉進次郎) visited there and we took a picture together.  I thought he would come this year too, so I brought the picture, a copy of my blog of the last year, and my book.  And he came.  I handed them and  we took another picture.  This year he was wearing a special coat called happi (法被), which we wear at the festival.
This year I asked him to give me an autograph.  He wrote "Where there is a will, there is a way" in Chinese characters with his name and date.  That was nice.  I hope to have a phrase like this when I write my autograph.

2012.5.27

It was very hot today. 
There was Dousun Matsuri (道寸祭り), Dousun festival in Aburatsubo (油壺) today.  It is held on last Sunday of May every year, but I had never seen it before.  It is the memorial service of a samurai active around this area in the Middle Ages.
Today I went to see a part of the festival, so-called kasagake (笠懸), Japanese mounted archery.  It is one of the three martial arts of mounted archery.  Others are yabusame (流鏑馬) and inuoimono (犬追物).  The archer of kasagake shoots without stopping the horse.
Here is the video. I hope you like it.

2012.5.15

There are many festivals which are very famous nationwide and there are three big one in Kyoto(京都).  Today is one of them.  It is called Aoi matsuri (葵祭), Hollyhock festival.  It is the festival of 2 shrines, Kyoto Shimogamo Jinja (京都下鴨神社) and Kamigamo Jinja (上賀茂神社).  Since ancient times, if you say a festival, it has meant the Aoi festival. 
The other two are Gion matsuri (祇園祭), Gion festival in July 17 to 24 for Yasaka Jinja (八坂神社), Yasaka shrine, and Jidai matsuri (時代祭), The Ages festival in October 22 for Heian Jingu (平安神宮), Heian Shrine.
Unfortunately I have never seen any of them though I have been to Kyoto around those times.
I hope to see them someday.

八月二日（hachigatsu futsuka）： August 2

It was very hot again.
Another big festival in Tohoku (東北) started today. That is Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (青森ねぶた祭り). It will last until 7th and is estimated to attract about 3 million spectators.
http://www.nebuta.or.jp/english/index_e.htm

In Nagaoka, Niigata(新潟県長岡市：niigata ken nagaoka shi), there was Nagaoka Matsuri (長岡祭り) with fireworks festival. There will be fireworks festival tomorrow too. With those two days about 20,000 fireworks will be shot off.
Nagaoka fireworks festival is one of the three biggest fireworks competitions in Japan.
Fireworks is hanabi (花火) in Japanese. Hana (花) means flower and bi (火) means fire. Beautiful name, isn't it?

八月一日（hachigatsu tsuitachi）： August 1

A new month has just started. August is hachigatsu (八月) in Japanese. The old name is hazuki (葉月), literally leaf month.
For students it is a time of the summer vacation. For adults they can take some days off around the middle of the month at the time of obon (お盆), the Bon Festival.
It is a time of summer festivals. There are five or six big festivals in Tohoku (東北) area. Among them two of them started today. One of them is Sansa odori(さんさ踊り) in Morioka (盛岡) which started in 1978.
http://www.sansaodori.jp/pdf/sansa_english.pdf
The other is Hirosaki Neputa matsuri(弘前ねぷた祭り) which is supposed to attract about 1,500,000 to 1,600,000 visitors.

七月三十一日（shichigatsu sanjyuichi nichi）： July 31

The end of July. How fast time flies! How was your July? I was busy for both public and private. There were many gatherings this month and I met many friends after a long time.
Tonight I watched the TV program of the 33rd Sumida River Fireworks festival, which lasted for about 2 hours. There were more than 20,000 fireworks shot off. They were so beautiful. Last year there were more than 940,000 spectators.
I think the fireworks festivals in Japan are one of the best summer things we can be proud of. I hope you have a chance to see them wearing yukata (浴衣) someday. I am looking forward to seeing one of them next week.

二月九日（nigatsu kokonoka）： February 9

It was rather warm today. In the daytime it went up to around 18 degrees centigrade like spring in Tokyo. During daytime I was inside, therefore I did not notice how warm it was. But even at night it is still warm around 16 degrees centigrade (68F?), and this is the first night in this winter that I do not have to use the heater.

Outside some winter flowers are blooming. Usually cherry blossoms are full in bloom in the late March to early April, but around this area Kawazu-zakura (河津桜), Kawazu cherry blossom is in bloom. The original tree was found in Kawazu, Shizuoka (静岡県賀茂郡河津町：shizuoka ken kamo gun kawazu cho) in 1955. They have Kawazu-zakura festival around February 10 to March 10. There are Kawazu-zakura about 3km along the bank of the Kawazu river. The color is bright pink and the flower season is about a month.

二月五日（nigatsu itsuka）： February 5

The 61st Sapporo Snow Festival (第六十一回札幌雪祭り：dai rokujyuikkai sapporo yuki matsuri) started today. There are three sites (大通り会場：Odori kaijo, すすきの会場：Susukino kaijo, つどーむ会場：Tsudome kaijo), and there are 249 statues of snow and ice there.
This festival will last until February 11. And about 2 million poeple around the world are expected to visit the festival. Please check the following site for details.

http://www.snowfes.com/english/

There are many delicious foods in Hokkaido(北海道), where is the northern island of Japan and Sapporo (札幌) is in Hokkaido. Therefore there are many food stands near the festival sites to offer the local foods.
Some of the specialty in Hokkaido are sea food such as kegani (毛がに,hairy crab), hotate (ホタテ,scallop), shake (鮭,salmon), kombu (昆布,kelp) and agricultural products such as potate, sweet corn and foods such as sushi(寿司), ramen (ラーメン), Ishikari nabe (石狩鍋), jingisukan (ジンギスカン) and so on.
Please come to Hokkaido and enjoy delicious foods.

義士祭（gishi sai)： Loyalist Festival

December 14 is known as gishi sai (義士祭) at the Sengakuji (泉岳寺) in Tokyo, Ako (赤穂) city in Hyogo (兵庫), and other places all over Japan.
Gishi means loyalist. They were from Ako, therefore they are often called Ako roshi (赤穂浪士). There were 47 loyalists therefore they are often called shijyushichishi (四十七士), 47 Ronin too. The story is also known as chushingura (忠臣蔵). It is a historical revenge story by forty-seven Ronin on the death of their master Asano Naganori (浅野長矩) or often called Asano Takuminokami (浅野内匠頭).
In the midnight of December 14, Genroku (元禄) 15, (Jan. 30, 1703 by the Western calendar) fourty-seven ronin went to their enemy Kira Kozunosuke's (吉良上野介) house and wreaked vengeance after 1 year and 10 months from their master's unfair treatment of hara-kiri. The head of them was Oishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助).
Asano and his loyal fourty seven ronin's graves are in Sengakuji, Tokyo.

秩父夜祭(chichibu yomatsuri): Chichibu Night Festival

There are many festivals in Japan. I have seen some of them, but usually I just know the festivals by names and just through TV news.
One of such festivals was held tonight. That is Chichibu Night Festival. It is a festival of Chichibu Shrine in Saitama (埼玉). It has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is one of Japan's three greatest hikiyama (曳山：float) festivals. The other two are the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) in Kyoto (京都) from July 1 to 31, and the Takayama Matsuri (高山祭り) of Gifu (岐阜) from April 14 to 15 and from October 9 to 10.
The most exciting scene of the Chichibu night festival takes place in the evening of December 3.

Please check the following site.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/traditionalevents/a63_fes_chichibu.html

佐賀唐津くんち（saga karatsu kunchi）

Kunchi (くんち) means festival. There are three biggest kunchi in Kyushu(九州), the southern island of Japan. One is Hakata okunchi(博多おくんち) on October 23 and 24, the other is Nagasaki kunchi(長崎くんち) from October 7 to 9, and another is Karatsu kunchi(唐津くんち) from November 2 to 4.
Today is the first day of Karatsu kunchi which is the annual festival of the Karatsu shrine (唐津神社), in Saga (佐賀). During the festival about 500,000 people are said to get together.
The feature of the festival is daily parades of fourteen hikiyama (曳山), massive floats in the form of samurai helmets, sea bream, dragons, and other fantastical creatures. They are constructed from wood, lacquer, and other materials. Each float is about five to six meters tall and they weigh from two to five tons. They say the gorgeous Japanese lacquer handiwork of floats are measured in the current yen 100,000,000 to yen 200,000,000.
In 1980 the festival was designated an "Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property."

時代祭（jidai matsuri）： Festival of Ages

There are three well-known festivals in Kyoto. One is Aoi Matsuri (葵祭) in May, the other is Gion Matsuri(祇園祭) in July, and another is Jidai Matsuri(時代祭) in October.
October 22 is the day of Jidai Matsuri(時代祭), Festival of Ages. It is a festival of the costume procession from the Heian era (平安時代) to the Meiji era (明治時代). About 2,000 people parade dressed in authentic costumes representing various periods and characters in Japanese feudal history for about 5 km for 3 hours. The procession line itself is about 2 km long. They start from Kyoto gosho(京都御所), the Kyoto Imperial Palace and end in the Heian jingu (平安神宮), the Heian Shrine.
The festival started in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th year of the relocation of the capital to Heian (平安遷都), Kyoto. It is the 105th festival this year.

長崎くんち(nagasaki okunchi)

Each place has its own festival. In Nagasaki (長崎), Nagasaki kunchi （長崎くんち）or Nagasaki o kunchi （長崎おくんち）is the most famous festival. It is held from October 7 to 9 every year.
It began as a celebration of autumn harvests in the late 16th century and became a shrine festival when Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社) was founded in 1642.
One of the most attractive performances of this festival is the "Dragon Dance."
Since Nagasaki was the only place allowed to trade with foreign countries during Japan's self-imposed isolation (sakoku:鎖国) of the Edo period (江戸時代), from 1641 to 1853, the festival has been also influenced by Portugal and Holland.
Nagasaki kunchi is one of three biggest kunchi along with Hakata okunchi (博多おくんち) and Karatsu kunchi (唐津くんち).

目黒のさんま祭り（meguro no sanma matsuri）: Pacific Saury Festival in Meguro

Japan is surrounded by seas, therefore we eat many marine products. There are many kinds of fish depends on the season. Now is the time for sanma (秋刀魚：literally means autumn sword fish), pacific saury.
There was the big sanma festival in Meguro (目黒), Tokyo. Do you know Japanese comic storytelling called rakugo(落語)? There are many interesting stories, and one of them is titled Meguro no sanma(目黒の秋刀魚), Pacific Saury in Meguro.
Therefore the festival was held in Meguro. It was the 14th festival. Last year 12,000 people visited. This year more than 16,000 people visited and lined up for free grilled sanma for 1.5 km for a few hours.
6,000 sanma were offered from Miyako city (宮古市), Iwate (岩手), 10,000 sudachi (すだち), citrus were offered from Tokushima (徳島), and 500 daikon(大根), Japanese radish were offered from Tochigi(栃木). Grilled sanma is usually eaten with daikon oroshi(大根おろし：grated daikon) and lime, lemon or other citrus juices.
There were some rakugo performances too.

徹夜踊り（tetsuya odori）： Dancing all night

There is a famous bon odori(盆踊り) called Gujo odori(郡上踊り) in Gifu (岐阜). It is one of the three biggest bon dancing in Japan. It has been held for 32 nights starting in the middle of July and lasting until the beginning of September. Dancing sites are different each day. Gujo odori starts around 8 and finishes around 10:30 usually and until 11:30 for Saturday in the night.
However from Aug. 13 to 16 people dance from 8 in the night till 5 in the morning. Therefore it is called tetsuy odori(徹夜踊り). Tetsuya means all night long. During these 4 days 250,000 visitors are expected to come and join the bon dancing.
People usually wear summer casual kimono called yukata (浴衣) and wooden clogs called geta (下駄).
It has 400 years old history. It has been designated as important intangible cultural property since Dec. 20, 1996. Interesting thing is the licenses will be issued to the good dancers.

I have been to Tetsuya Odori once in 2005.

徳島阿波踊り（Tokushima awa odori）： Tokushima Awa Dance Festival

One of the most famous dancing festivals in Japan is Awa odori(阿波踊り), in Tokushima(徳島). Awa(阿波) is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima, Shikoku(四国) and odori(踊り) means dance.　Awa odori is one of the three big Bon Dancing in Japan and one of the three big festivals in Shikoku.
It is held from Aug. 12 to 15. It has more than 400 years old history. The group of dancers is called ren (連), and there are more than 1000 ren dancing in the 7 sites for 4 days. More than 1.4 million visitors are expected to come to see the festival.

The song with chant is like this:
Erai yaccha, erai yaccha(えらいやっちゃ、えらいやっちゃ), Yoi, yoi, yoi, yoi(ヨイヨイヨイヨイ)
Odoru aho ni, miru aho (踊る阿呆に、見る阿呆: The dancers are fools, The watchers are fools)
Onaji aho nara, Odorana son, son (同じ阿呆なら、踊らな損損: Both are fools alike so, Why don't you dance?)

仙台七夕まつり（sendai tanabata matsuri）： Sendai Tanabata Festival

There was one of the three biggest festivals in Tohoku (東北) area recently. It was Sendai tanabata festival. It is held from Aug. 6 to 8 every year in the city of Sendai, another name is mori no miyako (杜の都), the city of forest.
There were more than 3000 bamboo tree decorations in the city. There were more than 2 million people visited the festival this year.
Official site of Sendai Tanabata Festivalis as follows (though it is written in Japanese only.)
http://www.sendaitanabata.com/

When we say three big festivals in Tohoku, they are Aomori Nebuta, Akita Kanto, and Sendai Tanabata.
If we say four big festivals in Tohoku, in addition to those three, Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri(山形花笠まつり) which is held from Aug. 5 to 7 is included.

秋田竿灯まつり（akita kanto matsuri）： Akita Kanto Festival

Akita kanto matsuri(秋田竿灯まつり) is one of the three big festivals in Tohoku area which is called as Tohoku sandai matsuri(東北三大祭). It started on Aug. 3 and lasts till Aug. 6. It has about 240 years tradition and is a big event attracts more than 1,300,000 visitors every year.
Kanto (竿灯) is a pole with lanterns looks like ears of rice. The tallest one is about 12 meters long and the weight is about 50kg. Men called shashite (差し手) hold the pole with waist or shoulder or forehead according to the cheering shouts. There are 253 poles with about 10,000 lanterns parading on the main street this year.

The official WEB site is
http://www.kantou.gr.jp/english/index.htm

青森ねぶた祭（aomori nebuta matsuri）： Aomori Nebuta Festival

There are many summer festivals in Japan. One of the most famous Japanese festivals is Aomori Nebuta matsuri(青森ねぶた祭), which is held from Aug. 2 to 7 every year in Aomori (青森), the northernmost prefecture of the mainland.
It is one of the three largest Tohoku (東北) festivals. It was decreed an important intangible cultural property of the country's folk culture in 1980.
Nebuta refers to the float of brave warrior-figure which is carried through the center of the city. They are about 5 meters tall and 9 meters wide. There are 22 floats this year. There is a contest of floats which will be awarded on Aug. 6.
Around the floats there are dancers called haneto (ハネト) whose chant is "Rassera(ラッセーラ)." They wear special costumes. You can buy or rent Nebuta Costume in Aomori city and join dancing if you like.
More than 3 million visitors are expected to come during the festival.

The official WEB site of this festival is
http://www.nebuta.or.jp/english/index_e.htm