The week after I arrived in Japan, I noticed an eye catching photo on the cover of a magazine which had local events throughout the year. In the photo was a huge, red, glowing Japanese warrior. The text was in Japanese so I didn't know what it was, but I remember thinking "I have to go to that event, whenever it is." During the last weekend of August, I got my chance.
The Matsuri Tsukuba Festival is the biggest festival Tsukuba has to offer. The big glowing floats are part of the Nebuta Parade, which is the main attraction. As the sun goes down, the center of town becomes inundated with food vendors, mini games (like at a carnival), and spectators. As there is one major walkway through this area, you find yourself trying to wiggle your way past the food stands and through a thick slurry of people on your way to the parade area.
The atmosphere of the parade is very energetic. You hear a bunch of people cheering, whistles blowing, bells-a-ringin', drummers drumming, and a partridge in a pear tree...my bad... I got distracted. I must say that I've never put much thought into parades, but there were a couple things that made this parade much different from any I had been to in the US.
Power to the People: Every float, portable shrine, ect. was pushed or held up by people. There were no cars, motorcycles, scooters, or trucks moving these huge things around. Just real. live. tired. people. There was even a live band playing music on a ten foot high stage on wheels being pushed around.
Wait, didn't I just see that on the other side of the road!?: Parades in the the US are unforgivable. A lack of punctuality may cost you a good view of the coolest part of the 30 minute event. Japan's solution to this is simple: close off a 1km stretch of road, send the floats/people down one side, when they get to the end have 'em loop back around, repeat. This transforms the parade into a 4 hour long marathon for those in the streets. It's great for the spectators though!
Why are those man-skirts so short!?: Ok, ok...I know I should be mature about this and appreciate the cultural difference...but something about the length of their man-skirts (I know they aren't called that) makes the immature American in me giggle.
Katie made me take this photo.
There are plenty more photos that you can see by clicking here.
The Matsuri Tsukuba Festival is the biggest festival Tsukuba has to offer. The big glowing floats are part of the Nebuta Parade, which is the main attraction. As the sun goes down, the center of town becomes inundated with food vendors, mini games (like at a carnival), and spectators. As there is one major walkway through this area, you find yourself trying to wiggle your way past the food stands and through a thick slurry of people on your way to the parade area.
I'll take that one!
The atmosphere of the parade is very energetic. You hear a bunch of people cheering, whistles blowing, bells-a-ringin', drummers drumming, and a partridge in a pear tree...my bad... I got distracted. I must say that I've never put much thought into parades, but there were a couple things that made this parade much different from any I had been to in the US.
Power to the People: Every float, portable shrine, ect. was pushed or held up by people. There were no cars, motorcycles, scooters, or trucks moving these huge things around. Just real. live. tired. people. There was even a live band playing music on a ten foot high stage on wheels being pushed around.
Take note that there are also women lifting these portable shrines...with kids standing on them...bouncing up and down. There was usually a guy rhythmically blowing a whistle in front of the shrine so everyone knows when to raise and lower it.
Wait, didn't I just see that on the other side of the road!?: Parades in the the US are unforgivable. A lack of punctuality may cost you a good view of the coolest part of the 30 minute event. Japan's solution to this is simple: close off a 1km stretch of road, send the floats/people down one side, when they get to the end have 'em loop back around, repeat. This transforms the parade into a 4 hour long marathon for those in the streets. It's great for the spectators though!
Why are those man-skirts so short!?: Ok, ok...I know I should be mature about this and appreciate the cultural difference...but something about the length of their man-skirts (I know they aren't called that) makes the immature American in me giggle.
Alright, I will stop with the jibber jabber. Without further ado: here are some picture of the floats.
You can see how huge they are. In fact, floats like this could not go the whole length of the parade because they couldn't fit under the bridges.
Much like their traditional doors, the floats are made of a wood or metal frame covered with thin paper. Needless to say, they are very delicate.
The parade organizers import these floats from northern Japan specifically for this event. It costs a pretty penny. Although it's somewhat of a mystery how much they actually spend, it's rumored to be about $200,000. Yaaaowza!
"eeeeeeee!"
A quick look at this peacock's feathers and you see how easily they can be damaged.
Here is a man reporting on the event for the local news. When we asked some people in our office about him they said that we was a 'local celebrity.' Matt really tried to get the guy to interview him. It would have made for some good TV.
Silly me, I just thought it was a crazy, middle-aged man with a big paper fish on his head.
Silly me, I just thought it was a crazy, middle-aged man with a big paper fish on his head.
There are plenty more photos that you can see by clicking here.
-Seth
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