First of all...
I know that I'm using my allowance of exclamation points rather quickly, however:
1) I am excited to be in Japan, and
2) One does not post about a festival without exclamation points!!!!!!
The Arakawa matsuri was the day before yesterday, and it was pretty awesome. The sturdy young lads of the town paraded a Shinto shrine around the streets yelling Washo! Washo!, and there were traditional dancing, booths, and of course, beer.
Immediately after I started to take photos, I was pulled into the traditional dancing by one of my office co-workers (I bet you'd like to see a video of that!). It was also around this time that people started to force beer cans into my hands (in one instance the guy had got it started for me), and I had to figure out how to:
A) Not get drunk, and
B) Do a graceful, beautiful provincial Japanese dance (complete with hand motions) with a cold Asahi in one hand.
My first solution was to chug the beer (I was working on a full stomach and the beer was pretty weak), and dispose of the can as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the supply of beer was limitless, and I quickly figured out that this was not a workable solution. My saving grace was actually my boss, who contrary to other JET's experiences (other JETs have had alchohol foisted upon them to the point of being dangerous), actually told me that 4 or more beers were "batsu" (complete with hand gesture)- so I had it on good authority that I couldn't drink any more, should anyone ask. I also managed to stealthy trail one can upside down along a dark back-alley when nobody was looking.
Following the dancing was more dancing, but this time performed by the local school children while everyone watched. Apparently kids are pretty hard-core into their school clubs here (sometimes because they are passionate about it, often because the clubs and hard-core-ness are mandatory), and it showed in the dancing, which was generally pretty well executed and choreographed.
All the festivities were definitely good times, and it gave me a chance to get used to being stared at. Its unnerving at first, but you get used to it (by and large people are looking in wonderment, not hostility). Also, in fairness, if someone a foot taller than me with fluorescent hair showed up and started strolling around Newton or Littleton, I would probably look too. The thing that takes the most adjusting to is not the looks but the noticeable effect it has on conversation- it's not uncommon to walk past a group of people and stop the conversation cold...only to hear it start again in more excited tones once I'm a bit farther away.
I think that about says it for the matsuri- I'll post photos, and with some luck, videos, up above.
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2 comments:
now you understand how it feels when people stare at you....
Yeah, although at least here people seem to be more curious than anything. I got the impression that you were actually getting some racist attention...not cool.
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