No Sunday solemnity on the way to the shrine for these worshippers. Instead, there was booze, unfettered joy and a boisterousness more akin to a football match. It was wonderful.
Photographs from a small group of islands
No Sunday solemnity on the way to the shrine for these worshippers. Instead, there was booze, unfettered joy and a boisterousness more akin to a football match. It was wonderful.
john says
Looks like a spirited performance!
Lee says
It was. High spirits with the help of strong spirits!
YTSL says
The stereotypical image of boisterous participants involves their being male. So it’s cool to see women as well as men taking part and looking happy too. π
Lee says
That’s a very good point. Hadn’t really thought that. So yeah, very good to see. The women were enjoying it just as much too. A really good atmosphere all round.
Denton says
Very cool. That looks like a lot of fun! π
Lee says
It was. Really good vibe with lots of very happy people.
Hans ter Horst says
Cool that you could get so close; I was at an Asakusa matsuri a few years ago and it sort of fell flat for me as guards and police ware so busy keeping everybody away from everything that we left early, bored. We then visited a matsuri in HannΓ Β (Saitama) and had a great time as we’d become part of it.
Lee says
Yes, made it a lot of fun. There were guards and police about, but they were nice and relaxed about people getting close. In fact so long as you didn’t cause any kind of obstruction, they didn’t bother at all. A pity that isn’t always the case…
cdilla says
There always seems to be so much energy in the festivals I’ve seen (on TV), and so much preparation too. Our village has a summer fair which is pretty loud, colourful and, at times, alcohol fueled. No shrine carrying though, and the floats are all truck or tractor drawn π
When I got up this morning my Tokyo thermometer was showing 30 degrees! And that was at 4pm. I hope it wasn’t quite so hot for these guys – who, despite the physical nature, don’t seem to be sweating too much.
Lee says
Yes, energy is an ever-present part of these events. Something that makes many of them incredible spectacles. Hopefully the tractors give the village fair a bit of something extra too!
This was just over a week ago. It was hot, but mercifully not as hot as the one that just passed. But the humidity and heat are really starting to kick in now, so unfortunately it’s only going to get hotter and sticker. A lot hotter and sticker…
cdilla says
The hot summers in Tokyo are one thing that restricts when we can visit. Mrs cdilla’s job as a teacher is the other. Anything I see that has been filmed in the summer features people who are obviously suffering from the heat – even the smart news readers are beading up. I’ve even seen several programs about how best to cope with the heat. Hot climes are something I just can’t cope with (even the annual two hot days we get in the UK are uncomfortable :-)), otherise we’d be visiting during the summer for a month rather than in spring for two weeks.
That is one reason why, a year or so back, I built a little wireless Tokyo thermometer that sits in a bell jar on my shelf and continuously displays the temperature, cloud cover, rain and the time in Tokyo, (It’s 25 degrees now at 15:41 and appears to be raining), so I could see whether it really was as hot as it seemed. Unfortunately is is.
Lee says
In the midst of rainy season, so your thermometer will be showing plenty of that for the next week or so.
Yeah, the summer really isn’t much fun. The heat I don’t mind that much, but the humidity is another thing altogether. The constant sweating and stickiness isn’t nice at all. It really tires you out too.
Spring on the other hand is often lovely. You may have less time here, but it’s definitely the right choice.