In the last month we have attended two Japanese festivals.
Festivals are regular events in Japan during the summer. Small street festivals are regularly held to honor a neighborhood's shrine. In addition, two very large festivals are also held during the summer: "Tanabata" (aka "the Star Festival"), observed on July 7th, and Bon Odori, celebrated in July or August depending upon the region in which you live.
The Tanabata festival is based upon a story of two star-crossed lovers (Orohime and Hikoboshi) who were banished to opposite sides of the Milky Way as punishment because they let their love interfere with their work (silk weaving and cow herding, respectively). They were allowed to meet only once each year -- on the 7th day of the 7th month. Also, during Tanabata, households and businesses are decorated with colored papers (think colored paper chains) and small ornaments (usually origami). Small poems and wishes are attached to the chains/ornaments. Daniel made one that hung in front of our house!
The Bon Odori festival is based upon a story about a Buddhist monk who frees his ancestors from their past bad karma by making offerings to his fellow priests. Families make offerings of their ancestors favorite foods and write the names of their ancestors on lanterns which are sent out to sea or down rivers symbolically representing the dead's path to heaven.
The Tanabata festival we attended was in Hiratsuka (2 trains and about 1 hour away). The trains, the stations, and the festival were packed! You can see a small portion of the crowd in the photos at the beginning of this post. This festival covered at least 1 sq. kilometre.
People often attend the festivals wearing the traditional Japanese summer kimono (a "Yukata"). Both men and women wear these kimonos. It is quite a sight to see. 3. Kita Kamakura & Kamakura
The festival is a giant street fair / carnival. There are games of chance for both children and adults to play. Daniel won a bunch of toys. He really wanted to try to win a small turtle or some fish but we didn't think they'd survive the trip back home (he won two goldfish at a prior festival, one lived for a day, the other for a week).
And the food! Goodness. Don't ever think that Japan is the land of healthy eating. While I realize that the food served at street fairs is different than that served in most houses, many foods here in Japan are fried and/or covered in sauces. They also like sweets here.
Here are some examples of the street fair food offerings:
The octopus (top photo) is used in "takoyaki" -- which are fried balls of dough with octopus (and other ingredients) inside. Think of a doughnut hole filled with octopus. The things that look kind of like pancakes (bottom photo) are "okonomiyaki." These are large pancakes filled with lots of vegetables and meat/seafood and usually covered in some sort of sauce. The ones pictured have a fried egg and bacon on top and the chef is drizzling mayonnaise on them. (I've made a healthy, vegetarian version of these at home -- they can be quite tasty.)
The photo on top is fried potatoes. Yes, fried potatoes. A whole, white potato is dipped in batter and then fried. The middle is then cut open and a HUGE blob of margarine (see the container on the far left of the table) is put plopped on. The photo on the bottom is "fish on a stick." They also serve "squid on a stick," "sausage on a stick," and anything else that can be deep fried and put on a stick.
As to sweets, you find all sorts of candies and fried cakes. The cakes are often shaped like popular characters (such as Pokemon characters, Hello Kitty, etc.) The photos above are little "smiley face" cakes, and candied apples. They also usually serve a type of lollipop with fresh fruit in it (but the "hard candy" part is not hard -- it is really gooey/chewy and has to be kept on ice until eaten -- I think it can pull fillings out!). Another really popular item is bananas dipped in chocolate or other colorful candy coatings.
The street fair we attended near our home was a smaller festival and celebrated a little shrine on the main street leading to our home. It was the same as the large festival but not on such a grand scale. Our "local" festival also featured a "mikoshi" -- a vehicle for a divine spirit. The mikoshi is a large, and elaborate, wooden structure carried on the shoulders of local residents. Most are large enough to carry people inside of them (these people are usually playing music and drums). Ric and Daniel were invited to join in carrying our neighborhood mikoshi!
A LOT of drinking goes on at these festivals! Fortunately, the alcohol seems to make people really friendly and happy.
