Danjiri Festival

Today at work the lady who owns the restaurant beside my school came to tell us that the Momodani area would be hosting a Danjiri festival later on in the night. I texted Jame and told him to meet me at my branch after he got off work so we could go see what this festival was all about.

I had never heard about this kind of festival, but some of Jame's students had told him about them. I guess they are pretty popular in Japan and can get quite crazy. Basically what happens is massive 4 tonne carts / floats (a.k.a - danjiris) are pulled down and around the neighbourhood's narrow streets. The floats are pulled by different members of the town who wear specific clothing that represents what area they are from. I asked my students what the purpose of the festival was and this is what I was told:

1) in the summer it is to celebrate a new season
2) in the fall it is to wish for a plentiful harvest during the autumn and winter
3) to cast away demons from the town

Supposedly it can get pretty crazy and dangerous as the floats race and even spin down the street. There are loads of people who follow / run along side these floats jumping and chanting to the beats of the drums coming from the floats. It looked like one gigantic mosh pit! It was super cool to watch. I am glad I didn't see anyone from the top of the float take a tumble. They were even doing handstands and dancing up a storm while the float would spin around and around!

On the side streets were many vendors selling food like squid on a stick, takoyaki (octopus balls), fried potatoes and candy apples. It was a great experience for us as we were surrounded by hundreds of the area's local people. I noticed we were the only "foreigners" as well.....I could tell the locals were thrilled that we were in their neighbourhood participating in a such a popular event....this time the "stares" were huge smiles and waves.

I am glad we had the opportunity to watch this festivity at night because the lit up red and white lanterns made it that much more spectacular. It was definitely an awesome evening!

I am sure these pictures won't really do the "real thing" justice, but I'll share anyway :)