Marugame Basura Festival

---

For me August has been the month of fireworks and dance festivals. I was lucky enough to have been able to move my Saturday night class to Thursday just this once so I could enjoy the fireworks in my home city. It had heard rumors that Marugame city had a spectacular fireworks show and they did. My apartment building is conveniently right next to the docks where they launch the fireworks. Fiona, Kazeo, Rebecca and I stood on my front porch drinking beer, chatting and watching. The show lasted 45 minutes and raised the bar for all fireworks shows that I will see in the future. The fireworks were massive and our view from the 8th floor couldn’t have been better. They even had fireworks that exploded into heart shapes and smiley faces. Even though they often ended up exploding upside down or sideways it was entertaining. I used the railing on my porch as a tripod to see if the blurry photos I usually take at night are due to the quality of my camera or the fact that I need a tripod. I need a tripod and I fully intent to invest in a lightweight portable one ASAP. I am a little sad that this was the last fireworks festival of the season and that I’ll have to wait until next year to see the choreographed displays of explosives and the streets and train stations filled with women in their colorful yukatas.

The rest of Saturday night and most of Sunday morning was spent in a karaoke bar. I can literally say that we sang until the sun came up. ^_^ After a five hour nap at my place Rebecca and I headed out to the Basara dance festival. One man explained to me that Basara was supposed to mean free or different. According to him, centuries ago one lord of Marugame Castle loved how the people on the main island viewed the people on Shikoku as different and far away, almost foreign. The festival from founded on this man’s opinion that different is better. The festival is a mix of every kind of dance imaginable; it really is a dance free for all. Yosakoi, Awa, Hip Hop, Latin and so much more make up a colorful mixture of Japanese traditional and modern dances. As entertaining as it was it paled in size and grandeur to the festivals in Tokushima and Kochi. (There wasn’t even a stall selling octopus or squid on a stick! I was disappointed.) When it was nearing the time for the sun to sink I headed home and Rebecca headed to the station. We both had a good time, but we were pretty exhausted.

---

Photos

So close to the show
Can you tell I like the gold ones best? ^_^

Awa costumes, yosakoi dance team
with the beautiful Marugame Castle in the background

Sunset
from my porch