Murakami-shi: Escapades and (some) Matsuri

Here are the promised pics of the Murakami area. These first few could probably have been snapped anywhere in the region- they give a pretty good idea what Niigata-ken looks like. Mountains and rivers abound, as do community vegetable patches. Also bear in mind that almost any photo that I put on here, you can click to enlarge.








Here are some photos of a park we walked through- I guess some of the other JETs come running here. It's very pretty, and sports a small pond stalked with koi that could take over the town were they only capable of perambulation. The photo of the koi mysteriously turns sideways in Blogger- I'm not sure why (it displays properly in Photoshop and Irfanview), but just try to pretend that it's right-side up.








Here's a shot of me by the river that another JET snapped- looking my photogenic best.




These are my co-JETs who went on the crazy adventure with me: Naomi and Flo, respectively (both very cool). There are two other JETs in the Murakami area aside from us three- those being Geneva and Katrina.






This is the amazing fellow who showed us around town and gave us a bunch of his sweet calligraphy (see the full story 2 posts down). He also owns a store Called "Samurai Spirits."



Here he is as the artful calligrapher, creating a memento, in this case for me. It says "smile."




When we went to his country house, prior to singing "you are my sunshine," we encountered his collection of antique Japanese dolls.



Finally, in his house- we encountered mummified tanuki-san. Presumably the hat helps protect his unnatural, unliving flesh from the hated yellow sun. Or some such thing.





Here at last are some pics of the Matsuri-
It was very difficult to take pics in the dark (I didn't want to use flash for fear of being rude), so you may have to use your imagination some on these. The large, lamp-festooned structures are about 20 feet tall and are hauled down the streets by the local strapping-laddery. On the floats themselves are bamboo stalks, lanterns, scenes from Japanese mythology, and children wearing traditional festival apparel. Each "float" (that's not what their called, but the Japanese term escapes me- I think it escaped right after I was told, actually) also sports a drummer who sets the rhythm and pace of things, and is followed by an entourage of slightly older children (9-15ish) who are playing wooden flutes.

The floats don't follow a straight path- they are pulled violently from side to side, and generally the street clears as they draw near. Occasionally they will stop, and the men who have been carting it along will do a dance under a blanket attached to a lion's head- I think that the violent floats and dance are both intended to ward off demons.