The purpose of the festival is to thank the god(s) for a good harvest this year and to pray for a good harvest next year. I suggested that they could just do this festival on alternate years, since they seem to have their bases covered for two years with just one festival. But somehow, I don't think my idea will catch on. So much for the Japanese appreciating efficiency!
We all met at our friendly neighborhood shrine to pick up this huge thing (don't know what we'd call it in English, but it what you see in some of the photos. I'm going to call it the portable shrine). The children led the procession with large pom-poms on sticks, followed by younger children holding the ropes in front of the "portable shrine".
Then came the portable shrine, carried by many men (at times it was on rollers, so it was just pushed along).
Inside this portable shrine were two children banging out a beat on the drum. The rest of us marched alongside and behind.
Steve got his hands on the megaphone and led us in the incessant chant of Yo-Ya-Sa.
We meandered through the neighborhood for several hours, stopping frequently for beer and sake breaks, and once for an ice cream break. Here is Lauren showing her green tea and red bean popsicle.
A couple times we saw the neighboring neighborhoods and their portable shrines. Eventually we made it to the park where three other neighborhoods came with their shrines. The park with filled with people eating their boxed lunches (they are a lot less appetizing than they may appear!).
Then each neighborhood lifted their portable shrine and raised it up and down - quite a feat for 30 men to do in unison!
Finally, the lion dance. The lion is the black thing in the photos, and that is a young boy holding a flower. I think the flower was supposed to be teasing or enticing the lion. It was incredible to see them up on top of this ladder. The boy even did a summersault on the bamboo poles!
2 comments:
Where are the pictures?
Never mind, the pictures showed up in this view...
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