Japanese Festival Season

In Northern Japan festival season July-August.  Every weekend in there is a festival to attend somewhere and we tried to take advantage of that this year.   I personally love to see the reserved people of Japan come alive with all of the singing, dancing, and great festival fried food that we love. We started with the Tanabata Festival right outside the gate in Misawa.

Everyone loves to run through the streamers of the lanterns

We attended the Nebuta Festival in Aomori, Japan. We took a bus with ITT to the festival so that we would not have to worry about where to park and traffic.  We also had assigned seats and the kids were right in front.  Anyone can participate in the festival as long as they are wear the appropriate attire.  They throw bells to the audience as wishes.  The kids got a ton of wishes.

Taiko drumming is a big part of the parade

Costume worn by the parade participants.  They march and dance and chant during through the parade route

Parade float

Next we visited a neighboring town, Hachinohe, to see the Sansha Taisai Parade Floats. We missed the parade but saw all of the floats set up in the park.  It was a great way to get close to them and take pictures.  There was a cacophony of sound and color all around. Each float depicts a well known Japanese tale or legend.

One of our favorite festivals this year happened on Obon week in Japan.  It is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors.  Many places will have a lantern festival because they light lanterns for their relatives and then at the end of Obon, float them down a river.  We went to the Seiryu-ji Temple in Aomori to see the lanterns on display.  The temple is tucked up in the woods and all the paths were lined with lanterns.  I thought the five-storied pagoda was intricate and it was surrounded by a beautiful zen garden all lit up for the nighttime.  It made me take pause and stop to enjoy the beauty of the nature and the architecture.  They have a huge statue of Buddha there, Show Daibtsu.  There were hundreds of lanterns in a courtyard at the foot of the Buddha.  We thought it was very beautiful to see and we tried to impress upon the children that this was a reverent event, just like church for us.  We were happy that we could experience this beautiful Japanese tradition.

The Priest asked if we wanted a picture and I could not resist.  Unfortunately it got a little over-exposed.  His robes were magnificent.

The last festival of the season was again right outside the gate in Misawa.  It was two days of four total parades.  The weekend started with the Float parade.  We were almost too close to get pictures of the entire floats as they came by us.  The huge floats are on two wheels and pulled along by ropes.  The float also open out and lift up.  Unfortunately we were seated by power lines so the floats were not extended to their full heights.  We will know to look for a clear road next year.

 The last day there were three parades in a row.  It started with the costume parade.  We saw sumo wrestlers, Pokémon, Zumba dancers, movie star impersonators, and cute little kids playing instruments.  Really, it was a comical parade.  That was followed by a more serious parade, the Bon Dancers.  The people wore yukatas, casual kimonos, and did a dance throughout the parade route.  I liked to see the colors of the yukatas as they went by.  The last parade was the Mikoshi Parade, or shrine parade.  They built little shrines on a board that they would carry, turn, and lift along the parade route.  Again, the energy was fun and every time I participate in Japanese traditions, I can feel the loyalty to their culture.  It is so wonderful to glimpse even a tiny bit of it all.

Bon dancers