As I have explained in my previous entry, I woke up on the morning of 5th day to the warmth of a local host family. Since I had asked them the night before about the dishes I should try in Yamagata, the "mother" of the house decided to wake up early and make some Imadegawa-yaki also known as Daifuku Manju so that I could eat some. And so that I could pack some for the rest of my day, and would later share them with the people I met along the way. In former days, the lady of the house confided me that she would go to the nearby touristic Yamadera and sell them to the visitors, giggling and telling me how fast she would run out of stock, and how much she enjoyed her conversations with the passing by tourists.
This "simple" breakfast had more ingredients and dishes than what I could describe. I felt I was a at a feast!
The Lady of the house had thrilled me with her entrepreneur stories, surprised me with her hand-made adornments, and amused me with old family stories and pictures, so it was a little bit sad to say goodbye to my new friends. She made sure to give me plenty of souvenirs, some I had to refuse for baggage size matters, but mostly she gave me a genuinely quality time that I found could only be brought about by the festival spirit that flourished around Tohoku these days. Thanks a lot for everything!
My next destination was the close-by famous temple of Risshaku-ji also known as Yamadera. This temple is a 30 min hike up from the homonymous train station, in which the frequence of trains is that of one an hour, so I recommend to check on the schedules before setting out to exploring. Since I had all my luggage with me, I used some of the station coin lockers (400yen) to get rid of the extra weight. However soon I would find out that there was a restaurant across the station that takes care of travelers luggage for free... oops!
From the bottom of the stairs, there were some Momiji (Japanese maple) trees that were coloured as if it had been Autumn. Funnily enough, from above they would be inadvertently overlooked, since their color was a dark shade brown almost purple.The peaceful atmosphere of the ancient temples surrounded by the greenery of the mountains was a quick yet amazing get-away from the city landscape.
My next stops were Matsushima and Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, and since the full fare was cheaper than using the seishun 18 kippu, I saved it for later. Instead, a Yamagata-Sendai ticket was advertised, and this was only 1680 yen for free rides in between several places of Miyagi and Yamagata. Considering that a one way ticket to Matsushima is 1,320 yen, plus a one way ticket Matsushima-Sendai costs 410yen, it was simple to use and cheaper as well, even for the one way trip. If I had arranged to stay in Yamagata for another night, I could have maximized its use.
Choi! Choi! Soore! Yassho, Makassho! I invite you to read about the Hanagasa Festival and other attractions in Yamagata prefecture
On this trip I have met wonderful people who coincided in the festivals with me, whom I was not planning to write about until my last entry. However, the 4th day of my trip was changed radically by the encounter of first, a really open-minded and open-hearted family and later, by the re encounter with my very first friend at the 16th Nippon Jamboree.
The family happened to have sat next to me while in the Akita Kanto festival, and spoke to me out of curiosity. Once I revealed that I planned to visit Yamagata's Hanagasa festival, the "mother" got excited about it because she happened to be a veteran hanagasa dancer! After this, her family formally invited me to share their car ride home and spend a night at their house, since they liked my company and we were all heading the same way. We arranged to meet around half past 10 am on the morning of the 4th day of my trip. Here is our picture together.
NOTE= you may have been told all your life not to trust strangers. The more I live and travel, the more I gain the ability to discard suspicious invites and connect with truly nice people. The key to this is based in being optimist enough to trust others and in treating people nicely and show them you can be trusted as well, and if these are simultaneous it is possible to connect with people at different levels!
Until 10 am, I tried to attend the Kanto practice where anyone is encourage to participate and experience holding the Kanto sticks with lanterns and balancing it. However, since rain started down-pouring, the event was moved to a venue retired from the place I was meeting with my host family. I still had my last ticket on the last part of the Kusama Yayoi exhibit, so I went to see the remaining of her works on display in Akita city.
I liked Kusama Yayoi's boat because it was fluffy, full of live and colours, and above all had the interesting background story of her representation on how to make the fear of death pleasant by softening and lighting up the boat that will lead her to the other world. On the boat at the exhibition, melons, bananas and pinapples were camouflaged among the soft protuberances that decorate her boat.
So, once the appointed time came, I got together with my new "host family" and we embarked on the route going South.
After entering Yamagata, and passing Sakata city, we approximated to Tsuruoka, a place that has recently received a considerable amount of media attention. In the coast of Kamo, a traditional aquarium was founded in 1930. Hit by the boom of emerging aquariums in the 1990`s, it almost closed it doors due to lack of visitors, However, in 1999 an exhibit on Jellyfish brought an unexpected large number of visitors, and since then the Kamo Aquarium has been devoted to enlarge its jellyfish collection, which under the name Kuragerium (=jellyfisharium) was recognized in 2005 as the world largest of its kind. This aquarium has undergone refurbishing until June 2014, and since then, with double its space and with a collection of more than 50 species of jellyfish from both sea and river, it has been the summer sensation.
Once we finished watching the exhibit, cute souvenirs and a restaurant including jellyfish meals on its menu were awaiting for us. Because of the big crowds, by 2 pm all the meals except for the jellyfish ramen (noodles) were sold out. The ramen(800yen) includes two sorts of edible jellyfishes (brown and white) and a type of seaweed (the dark ingredient on the lower right of the noodle bowl) which presents a pun on words for its name sounds similar to jellyfish. Delicious! And according to the experts, very rich on collagen!
After your meal you can treat yourself with some jellyfish ice-cream. I really did not notice that there was some jellyfish inside my strawberry and blueberry ice! Perfect for a hot summer day, the ice-cream can only be topped with the marvelous view that the restaurant has.
At the Kamo Aquarium, you can find also non-jellyfish underwater creatures, and there is even a seal show on the pooled-stage at the top floor.
There is also a giant octopus, claimed to be the biggest in the world!
But of course, we came here for the jellyfish. Aren't these cute?
Here is a home made video portraying the different jellies that I saw on my visit. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/VHtNQqNG5Pg
There are also decorations of many pieces of art, always on accordance with the topic of the Aquarium.
You can have "face in the hole" picture right outside the main building, although past noon it comes out with backlighting, so we went for a safe "group selfie".
After arriving on Yamagata, my host family kindly took my bag home and saw me off at the closest station, a 無人駅 mujin-eki or "people-less" station. In these kind of stations, apparently common in the countryside, users buy a ticket from the vending machine inside a glass box when getting on, and leave their ticket in a box when getting off. There is no room for questions though, since there is nobody to answer them!
Here, we bumped into another veteran dancer friends of "my host mother"and she was kind enough to assure her that she will walk with me to the festival, in which she was going to be performing. Once we get at Yamagata station I get the usual tourist information and stamps, and we head for the park where the dancers are queuing in order of appearance. And on our way, I suddenly spot a large group of dancers wearing Scout Scarves! As I walk by I chit chat with them, when suddenly I bump into my Jamboree friend Hiro!!! She had just arrived from Tokyo on the night before and was here to be a part of the parade!
I was kindly invited by other leaders in her group to dance along with them, and after parting with my host mother's friend I joined this youthful and brilliant pink crew. Luckily enough, there was an absent by another member, so I was given his T-shirt and Hanagasa straw-hat with a borrowed scout scarf, and atone with the Yamagata Prefecture Boy Scouts I walked down the street.
On the last minutes before we started parading, a nice Lady taught me the basic steps, and before she could finish, drums had marked the start of the event and so we started moving. Following the people ahead of me, and trying to make eye-contact with the audience, I had a blast dancing with my brothers and sisters in Scouting that did not mind the spontaneity of my arrival and welcomed me into their group. Thanks a lot for one of my most precious memories of this trip!!!
The Yamagata Hanagasa Festival is a relatively new festival which started in 1964, the same year that Tokyo held its first Olympic games, yet it attracts a lot of tourists and is considered one of the 4 biggest festivals in the Tohoku Area (North-East of Japan). It is held from August 5th to 7th, starting at 17:10 and finishing around 21hs. It consists of a parade of dancers of about 1.2 km on one of Yamagata City`s main streets, although in case of rain is performed indoors at a local Sports Centre. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, there are about a total of 10,000 dancers participating in the three-days of the Yamagata Hanagasa, and yearly attracs around a million visitors.
Hanagasa translates as Flower Hat, and refers to a light straw-hat decorated with artificial flowers. Although in the picture above I am holding the average hanagasa size with a diameter of 33cm, used for the traditional dance steps, there is also a larger version with a diameter of 42 cm, used for the Otoko Odori., which translates as the male dance. This dance may have been traditionally performed by men, although nowadays there are no gender distinctions; its particular feature is the stress on the speed in which they move and flip their hanagasa around.
Each group wears the same attire, and dances following a float (usually decorated with the name of its sponsors) that carries a taiko drummer. There are also taiko drummers on the side of the street, at the midpoint of the parade, near where the judges are. Some groups even had different sorts of dancers that carry an umbrella-like hanagasa, and with a jumping and twirling choreography move swiftly all over the parade street.
These are the young girls from the Panasonic clothes. They were the only crew to wear a proper kimono (terribly hot I may confess) and according obi (belt) and hair accessories, with impeccable make up and professional hairdos. There was an evident contrast of these girls with the usual performers that wore a yukata (summer kimono) or any sort of matching clothes of their choice. Kids from the Street dance academy wore shiny trousers with the Academy`s t-shirt, and the members of a Host Club wore their shiny work suit.
This is the Goal of the parade. Usually, to get there, each group dances to the 30 min full melody twice and a little bit, taking 10 min breaks in between each musical block.
The Defense Corps were also present. I found it funny to see these men wearing military clothes and dancing with flowers on their hats.
These are the taiko drummers on the sides of the street. This position is performed by boys and girls alike, all wearing the same "happi"over some shorts and some bandages around the chest area. They perform for the whole lenght of the 30 min block, and change positions during the 10 min break.
The traditional Hanagasa choreography has not changed over the years, yet new styles pop up every now and then. Dancing groups such as belly-dancing or street dancing schools, or also cheerleaders, bring their own styles and acrobatics, blending them with the basic moves and revolutionizing the parade every year.
Here are the Gloovys Cheerleaders, who would throw people into the air and make human pyramids as they marched with their bright smiles through the parade
At the very end of the parade, the three "Miss Hanagasa" lead the tobiire group, that is, the open group for anyone who feels like dancing. Once they march halfway through the 1.2 km course of the parade, the taiko drums sentence the end of the event as everyone cheers.
Not as commercial as other festivals, there were only a few food stands, and since Yamagata is a quiet city, by the time the parade finished, around 9 pm, most of the local restaurants were closed. Bars were still open though.
Upon my return to the host family house, I found they have prepared me for dessert some figs and watermelon which they've grown in their own garden. These figs green-looking on the outside, where very frees and sweet on the inside, definitely the best figs I have ever tasted! Thanks for such kind treats!!!
So, as another day has finished, I slipped into the warmth of a homely futon, and went to sleep after a dream-like wonderful day. Untill the next entry!
On my third day I took a train to the castle-town of Hirosaki, known as the ruling castle of the northern Tsugaru Shogunate.
A 20-min walk from JR Hirosaki station, there is the district of Otemachi, which I visited to find a treat that my friend recommended. The name of the shop is 川越黄金焼き、and it specializes in "Kogane Yaki", a sort of kaiten yaki that has "shiroan" or white anko instead of the usual, purple-coloured aduki sweet beans.
Ｎｅａｒby there were some historical buildings such as this Catholic church, and also the Hirosaki Castle and its park.
In the NHK office and also on the nearby gasoline station I found that they had on display the floats that they use at night for the Hirosaki Neputa festival,
Near the station I found that for 114 yen you can buy a 100% apple-made local juice, that comes in the wrapping of a float like the ones of the Nebuta parade, and makes a delicious souvenir.
Around noon I hopped on a train straight to Akita city. This city at a glance seemed very practical for it has a roof-covered walkable street connecting directly to the station, and linking the Prefectural Museum and main Shopping malls and Hotels. Here, some "demons" come to greet the tourists that visit Akita during its Festival season.
Lanterns such as the ones used during the festival are also on display on the way to the street where the festival takes place.
This summer there is a Kusama Yayoi exhibit with her latest works, announced all over the city by banners and by her traditional polka-dotted tree dresses. There is an are where you are allowed to interact with the art and take pictures. The exhibit costs 600 yen with a student ID, and consists of 3 tickets: two are inside Atrion (アトリオン）which is a shopping mall next to the Dormi Inn hotel. The third one can be used to enter to the last part of the exhibit that lies on the first floor of the Akita Prefectural Museum.
This is a postcard of one of her self portraits
This is me in the flower polka-dotted room
The exhibition of Kusama Yayoi is held from 10 am to 6 pm (last admittance 17:30), so I will finish watching the part Akita Prefectural Museum of Art exhibit on the following morning. In the meantime, since the Prefectural Museum of Art is on an irregular schedule special for the festival (the closing hours are later than usual, at 18:30) I payed it a brief visit(adult 310, student 210yen). The current exhibit features Hirano Masakichi`s collection, with ground-breaking works by the artist Tsuguohara Fuojita, whose biggest mural painting, "Akita no Gyouji" was inspired in the Muralist movement that he saw during his trip to Brazil, Cuba and Mexico.
This is his self portrait
This is 秋田の行事（Akita no Gyouji)
The most remarkable feature of this painting is that it describes the lifestyle of his time in Akita. From the left, there are indications of how rice was transported in straw-made containers on carts pulled by horses, how kids used to play with Japanese Tako (kite), how Akita wood was used for making a fence, how the entertainment dancers would receive people at a Kamakura or snow igloo, and of course showing the existence of the Akita dog. In the center of the painting the Akita Kanto festival can be appreciated, with the "kanto"being the long stick with lanterns that has a decoration on its highest tip. Right next to it there is a Hanagasa sort of umbrella, with an "Otoko Ningyou" or man doll, followed by a huge Taiko drum. On the third partition of the mural, the events at a Shrine and at a Temple are depicted, with one of the faces facing the stage on the right recognized to be that of Tsuguohara Fuojita himself.
I forgot to mention that on the North side of the Atrion shopping mall there is a gorgeous pond full of blossomed lotus flowers.
So, on my way to the festival, I keep walking on the street that comes from the train station and has the museums when I find this is actually a pedestrian street and it is full of trivia fun facts about the history of Akita or the meaning of its festivals!!!
Also, altogether with a map with all the prefectures there is a world map, and stickers available for visitors to pinpoint the place where they come from!
"WHERE ARE U COME FROM?" says the map where I stuck a yellow dot over my hometown, the city of Buenos Aires.
On this pedestrian street there is also an open concert going on. And the typical "Demise" outdoors shops are wooden made and look way fancier than at any other place I have seen so far.
As I approach the lantern festival, I found a stall that sells Kiritanpo nabe, a soup like meal that has rice blended into a chewy dough, the traditional food from Akita. Yummy!
And soon as I climb the pedestrian bridge I get excited for I can already see the festival starting!!!
The dynamics of the festival are basically like this:
First a truck comes, carrying the name of the sponsor-group, and on its back the Taiko drummers bring the rhythm to the street.
Following behind, the flutes accompany the drums
And after them we have the main performers of Akita Kanto: The Kanto-mochi (holders), who lift these sticks with lanterns that weights up to 50 kg! They do it first with their hands, then they place it on their belt and balance it, and then they hold it with their heads!!!
But this is not only for adults for kids also participate and show their skills!
Sometimes the wind is too strong and one of the lantern may fall onto another. The team members are always on the look so that nobody gets hurt, not even the close-looking expectators.
And suddenly the crowd spots this kid, who must be around 10 years old, and not only holds the lantern-stick with his head but also has the spare balance to take out a parasol and a fan and dance with them!!! Cheers!
At the end they let you take pictures with them!!!
And on my way out I have a locak "Babahera ice" that is shaped like a rose.
And after all this, I finally got to chill out at some Hot Springs!!! Since the ones in the Dormi Inn were exclusive for guests with a room reservation, I visited "華の湯” （Hana no yu) Hotspring complex, that also goes under the name "Super Kenkou(Healthy) Land" and is located a few blocks south to the streets where the festival is staged. For only 480 yen there is access to a number of indoors and outdoors pools, which filled with springs water and predicate to have different embellishment and rejuvenating effects. This place is open until 24:00 hs so you do not need to rush on you way from the festival. The official website(Japanese only) is http://www.route-inn.co.jp/hananoyu-akita/index.html
What do you think of all these things that Akita city has to offer? If you have the time I totally recommend you pay it a visit!
