Dancing with Fire

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Last week I went to a fire festival which was on the top of this mountain about one hour outside of Kyoto Prefecture. After arriving at the station where it was time to change trains so that we could go up the mountain we were no longer able to continue because all transportation going towards the festival had been put to a halt. My friends and I were determined to make it to the festival so we began to think of our options, which were not many because all transportation had been stopped. The only plan of action we could come up with was walking to the top and sneaking through the forest around the blockade until we reached the top where we could then blend in with the others. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Because it was cold, a three hour hike up a mountain, and unfamiliar territory we decided to go to the local convenient store to invest in some beverages (only water and juice) so that we could make our pilgrimage to the fire festival. However, much to our dismay, when we returned from the convenient store the trains had been temporarily put back into service so we didn’t have to sneak through the forest after all. Once we arrived at the top of the mountain all we could see were people shoulder to shoulder. Again, on the mountain they had blockades keeping the masses from entering past a certain point. This was fine with us at first, but because I was seeking adventure I made an executive group decision to continue forward. I asked the others to follow my lead and grab onto my shoulders. Once they did this, I too grabbed onto the shoulders of a Japanese man that was participating in the festival. He was the last man in a series of several men that were making their way towards the highest part of the mountain. Because these men were in the festival the spectators were expected to step backwards so that they could continue moving forward through the masses. The good news was that because we had joined onto the train of men, we too became part of the festival and we were able to move forward without being questioned, the confused stares didn’t really bother us because, living in Japan, we are used to this. One hour later, after making it to the highest part of the mountain we decided to have a celebratory drink of sake and reflect on our achievement. After our reflection we agreed that when one climbs to the top of the mountain the only thing left to do is go back down. This time we joined the dancers and musicians, more exciting than the chain of Japanese men that we joined on our way up. Moreover, because this night was full of surprises it only made sense that others would come, and they did. We soon found that those participating in this segment of the festival received complementary sake all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. We danced and took part in the festivities for nearly three hours until we realized that we had lost our good friend. At this point we graciously thanked our sake suppliers and fellow festival members and began to look for our friend. The bad news is we never found him, but the good news is that the next day we received a phone call from him. He merely explained that he had fallen into some bushes and had a difficult time getting up so he stayed there until another friend of his accidentally stumbled across him, woke him up, and took responsibility for him. In the meantime, my other friends and I made it down to the train station where we were to switch lines to return home, but we missed the last train so we were stuck in Kyoto for the evening. Because we didn’t have the money to get a hotel or pay for a taxi, we did what anyone would do, hitchhike. For those of you that are worried at this point in the story- please understand that Japan is probably the safest place to hitchhike in the world. After only a few minutes we were picked up by some really nice college students that took us to their home for a while for conversation, then to their favorite Ramon Restaurant ( the best ramon I have ever had by the way), then drove us 2 hours home back to Seminar House. At 5:30 A.M. our adventure had come to a close and by 5:31 I was sound asleep in my bed.

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