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Published: October 29th 2017
Hello my fellow travellers!
Today we started out very calmly, we slept in and then ate a relaxed breakfast together before we left for Kakegawa to celebrate the annual Kakegawa Festival (
Kakegawa Matsuri). It's a festival that dates all the way back to the Edo period (1603–1868). Before we left Shizuoka we stopped by an electronics shop where I picked up a new memory card for my camera so that I could resume taking pictures properly. The cell phone takes at a similar quality as my compact camera, but it lacks the zoom capabilities which I use quite frequently.
As we arrived in Kakegawa we took the scenic route up to Shôkichi's home which is located beautifully atop of a mountain with a gorgeous view of the valley below. It's in a very picturesque location, nestled amongst plantations of the green tea for which Kakegawa is famous. Before we arrived at Shôkichi's home we also stopped briefly at his neighbours' home to say hello. They are so lovely and it was very nice to meet them again.
Meeting Shôkichi again was really nice and I just love his traditional house, it's so incredibly beautiful. It was cool to
Cool Crew
Kakegawa Festival, Kakegawasee him in his
happi (festival kimono) and once we had all gotten ready we made our way down the mountain to where one of the
matsuri yatai (festival floats) was stored and the eldest member of the city council held a speech. Shôkichi is the second eldest on the city council at the moment but he's thinking about retiring from public office so he might not run again in the next election.
The place where Shôkichi lives and where our celebration was to be held is on the outskirts of Kakegawa in the Harasato district. The matsuri yatai that we brought out belonged to the Kanayama Shrine (
Kanayama Jinja) and was truly splendid.
Everyone was dressed for the occasion, including the children who looked wonderful in their beautiful clothing. There was plenty of delicious sake going around. It was a nice atmosphere as people joined togetherto pull the matsuri yatai out of it's storage. After that we made our way to the area where the festival was to be held in front of the local branch of the Kakegawa Agricultural Cooperative. There were several matsuri yatai being pulled in from across the whole area, all of them
incredibly gorgeous. The people pulling them were doing so by rocking them back and forth while chanting and singing, creating a great energy that was very easy to get swept up in.
The matsuri yatai are built to resemble mountains to attract the
kami (deities) that live in the mountains and give them a place to inhabit. The people riding on top of the matsuri yatai are there to welcome the kami. On top of the matsuri yatai are spears, swords and similar objects, these are meant to serve as markers for the kami as they approach. The matsuri yatai itself is a form of
yorishiro (lit. "approach substitute") which is an object capable of housing a kami. A yorishiro can be several different things such as trees, rocks, animals and even people or entire mountains. Once a yorishiro is inhabited by a kami it is known as a
shintai (body of the kami), the most famous example of this is probably Mount Fuji (
Fujisan).
At the main festival area me and Bárbara got dressed up in beautiful festival kimonos and we were some given food and beer. I met several of Junko's students that I met last
First Dance Performance
Kakegawa Festival, Kakegawa year and I received some nice gifts again, I was especially happy to get a new set of drawn postcards from Masaaki. I really need to find a good frame for them all and hang on my wall at home because they are truly amazing! He is really talented and I think his English has improved since last year despite him being over 70. Junko also introduced me to a nice woman named Yuka who is currently taking private lessons in English from her.
Once all the matsuri yatai was in place around the main festival area several people gathered to perform a music number with traditional instruments. Me and Bárbara got pulled into the mix and placed on chairs in the front row surrounded by the musicians. It was a lot of fun and it had a really good vibe to it. I also got to try and beat on one of the drums myself though I was more enthusiastic than skilled.
Afterwards we returned to the audience and the children all came together to perform a beautiful dance for the rest of us after which the adults stepped in and performed a dance together with the
older children which was then followed by another music performance. Finally there was a lottery taking place but neither me nor Bárbara had any tickets for it but we enjoyed it fully anyway and I ate some delicious food which, I believe, was some weird part of a chicken that no one actually expected me to like. They all looked really surprised as I gulped it down with a hearty appetite, especially this guy who sat next to me was really surprised that I liked it. He spoke really good English so we had a long conversation while Bárbara conversed with Junko and Yuka.
When the lottery was at an end I took the opportunity to take a closer look at all the gorgeous matsuri yatai. They are quite old and I was told that they cost a small fortunate to commission and it's easy to see why as they are all really striking with lots of intricate details.
After that we all returned back to Shôkichi's home, together with Yuka, and we rested for a while and played a bit with Vivian before we returned to the place where we brought out the first matsuri yatai to
Lottery
Kakegawa Festival, Kakegawa eat an evening meal. I also got a nice gift from Yuka which was very sweet of her.
During the evening meal men and women ate separately so I landed amongst the men while Junko and Bárbara landed with the women. Junko came in to check up on me occasionally though because there wasn't anyone amongst the men who spoke English and while my Japanese was fine enough for small talk but it wasn't yet at a level where I could keep up a lengthy conversation but I did my best to engage in conversation even when Junko wasn't there and I think we all had a great time together.
Tonight a really funny running joke was started with a young boy that kept running away as Bárbara tried to give him a kiss on the cheek. We joked that this showed her bad luck in love with the guys running away from her. We all had a lot of fun and there was much laughter together with the kid who enjoyed it all a lot.
Once we had all eaten and drunk our fill we said goodnight to everyone and Junko drove me and Bárbara to
Men's Dining Area
Kakegawa Festival, Kakegawa Fukuroi to stay with Hideyuki and Yasuyo for the night while Junko will spend the night at her husband's home.
It was really great to meet Yasuyo and Hideyuki again. Yasuyo gave me a really unforgettable experience in Fukuroi last year. Hideyuki's job as the mayor of Fukuroi unfortunately kept him pretty occupied last year so I didn't really have the chance to talk to him very much last year. However, this evening was calm and gave us the opportunity to talk for a bit. Both of them speak English very well and so we all spent the evening together talking about a varied arrange of topics.
After a while they suggested that we should go out and catch the evening part of the Fukuroi Festival (
Fukuroi Matsuri) so we did that and it was an absolute blast! They had such an impressive energy in the evening parade. Everyone was pulling the matsuri yatai, rocking them from side to side. Standing on top of them was women singing and chanting their hearts out while all around it was a plethora of people dancing. It was very infectious and I jumped right into it. I grabbed a hold of
the rope of one of the matsuri yatai and helped pull it around the city streets while singing loudly. It was an absolutely amazing experience and a great way to end the day.
Tomorrow I will also be in Fukuroi and Kakegawa as Bárbara and me will spend the morning together with Yasuyo, tending to the matsuri yatai and the people pulling them. In the afternoon we will go back to Kakegawa together with Junko to enjoy a day full of barbecue, karaoke and dance performances.
Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!
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alex waring
Alexander Waring
Festivals!
Wow! What an amazing time to visit a place, when there is a festival happening - I'm glad you were able to get a new memory card as your pictures really convey the colourful mood and vibrancy of the festival. How wonderful to also spend time in such a beautifully situated home. And I totally understand you on your earlier response to my comment, on one of the best things about travelling being the meeting of new people. Fleeting moments can indeed make for lasting impressions, they probably go both ways too, and what a treat it is to be able to travel in this way :)