Matsuri Nation

As I said before, October is teeming with festivals due to it being harvest season. This past weekend my friend Belinda and I ventured to the Wadai Matsuri, or Laughing Festival, in Kawabe, one of the towns that I teach in, escorted by Chihara Sensei, one of Belinda’s JTE’s (Japanese Teachers of English, the teachers that we work with in the Junior High Schools). Being that Kawabe is part of Hidakagawa-cho (the town where I work) I ran in to a lot of my students, which made this festival a bit more fun than others. As is typical however, most students simply stare in amazement at first sight of you, amazed that you exist outside of the classroom. A hearty, loud “hello” and “how are you?” usually snaps them out of their shock, though anything more than a “hello” is rare…for the girls. When not alone though, sighting by a student often draws the “Ahhhhhhh, Lauren Sensei” (whisper, whisper, whisper), “Lauren Sensei.” Like a new celebrity, I still enjoy it and soak it in.

It is said that many of the matsuri’s around this time are very similar to one another, as in you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. But, the special title of this particular festival drew us in. Turns out, the laughing aspect of the celebration is not huge, but we had a great time nonetheless.

Arrival time was 10am and we got there just in time to walk around a bit, see some of the lion dances and witness the participants gathered in nearby garages drinking in preparation for carrying heavy objects. The lion dance in this festival involves a bad lion, one which is bad luck for crops, fighting an Oni (ogre essentially, and also the name of whoever is “it” during a game of tag, a schoolyard favorite here as well). The dance culminates in the lion being stabbed with a sword by the Oni.

Being that the festival involved many different town in the area (many of which have just recently merged to form one big town…when I got my letter of assignment for example, it stated that Hidakagawa town had “just started”. Hmmmm, part of something new) each smaller town was designated with colored headbands. When the procession towards the Shrine began, the elders with baskets filled with items from this year's harvest led the way, followed by a smaller (but heavier) portable shrine, carried by some of the higher ups of the area. One of Belinda’s Kocho Sensei’s (vice principle, translates as Head Teacher) was helping to carry this particular one and was well on his way to trashed at this point.

Now this procession, and it is the same in every festival of this type that I have seen and heard of, is not one of your 5th avenue Thanksgiving Day Parade types. The Japanese have taken it to a whole new level and I think that we Americans might do some good to pay attention, because their way is a whole lot more fun and far less froofy. No blow up Snoopy’s or carnation-covered, snail-paced boats on wheels here. This event is run on good, old-fashioned man-power. And staggering man-power at that. And with two steps forward, two steps back, a shuffle to the side and a near capsize, you can imagine how long it takes to get everyone and their baggage about a half kilometer down the road. Just when you think that progress is being made, men holding the weight in the front may decide that they want to walk backwards, and so it goes. It is very much a struggle between the men holding the shrine, so at times it is a bit of a civil war. In addition, with all the testosterone and sake flowing, there is the occasional fist fight. Not to worry though, we were told that it is normal and there are designated people to break these little tiffs up.

Belinda and I, being the only gaijin there and knowing some of the people involved in the festivities, were given temporary Wasa Town honors in the form of pink headbands and a short opportunity to carry the Yotsu Daiko (the biggest shrine, which holds four boys playing a taiko drum, refer to Gobo Matsuri posting). This made her JTE nervous however, so the attmept to take on some of the shrine's weight did not last long. But we did continue for a long while to follow the Wasa "float" whilst being serenaded with drunk old men's talk of tennis balls, condoms and "puri puri" ( apparently a nicely rounded behind)...but these are just estimates as Chihara Sensei stopped translating at this point. Charming.

We stayed at the festival for about two and a half hours and still the procession had barely begun to arrive at the shrine. I now understand why these things last all day.

And before I forget, there is a laughing aspect, though not as pronounced as I expected. The grand marshall is a clown-like character who laughs (or begins the laughing, many of the older men laugh as well...a very accentuated, hearty roar of a laugh) and throws candy.



Some of my Shougakko (Elementary) Badasses (Unlike the Kilt, the plaid worn in Japan has no familial significance, but the elastic waist band, makes a fine purse, possibly rivaling the fanny-pack)

the "Lion"

Showdown


the boys of the Yotsu Daiko being carried to the shrine (they are not allowed to touch the ground)

the tipping point