Day 1: Sansa Odori

 

   My previously announced trip (http://camimonogatari.blogspot.jp/2014/08/matsuri-fever.html) started today August 3rd in the city of Morioka, capital of Iwate Prefecture, where the Sansa Odori Festival is being held from August 1st until August 4th.

   I took trains for about 10 hs and a half, and enjoyed to see outside the clean windows green hills, or rather rice paddies (Want to see a 30" summary? Check http://youtu.be/68wLXoCeYOk). Since the usual trip does not have spare time for meals, in the morning I visited a convenience store to stock some hamburgers, ham and cheese sandwiches and fried chicken (Sunkus Y482) and brought some fresh water from home. I did ran out of water, but luckily enough, almost every JR station where I need to change trains is provided with vending machines, with series of teas, sport drinks, cokes and sometimes even coffee or latte. In Kogota station I even found a nice kiosk though I needn't buy anything.

   Once in Morioka station the train attendant checked my ticket and welcomed me to Morioka city with a huge grin. Around the corner there was an Information desk, where I got maps with parade schedules and a list of restaurants where you can find the 3 famous noodles of Morioka. These are Jajamen, Morioka Reimen and Wanko Soba. I left my backpack at one of the big size lockers (300yen) and changed into clothes suitable for the weather, since the air-conditioned trains obligue me to wear long sleeves and full-lenght trousers.

      This is a customer comments and suggestions board written on a daily basis, at Morioka Station.Who would have thought that adding a board and a piece of chalk you could get so many nice messages!

  Here is the map of the city and where the Sansa Odori Parade takes place, from 18:00 to 21:00hs
(from http://www.sansaodori.jp/pdf/2014_kotsukiseizu.pdf)

 
   After short walk outside the station, crossing a bridge, the "Oodori" or main street comes into view. It is full of lively shops and restaurants (perhaps it is the biggest concentration the city has) and in festival season it also has a lot of street stalls also known as "Demise" or "Yatai".

       This is the entrance to the Oodori

    Note that the parade is held on another street!

    This is an example of the street stalls. It puzzles me how fast the Disney characters and Princesses invaded this country`s kids world...

    On my way to eat, I noticed a discount shop that promised to be interesting... and found out that the shop attendants were all wearing Argentina`s football soccer uniforms!!! I gathered them for a picture =)

     I checked out three stores for having my desired taste of Morioka Reimen, and running out of time I chose Penwan restaurant. I was an early customer, so they prepared my food immediately, and I ate along the nostalgic folkore music they were playing. 

Morioka Reimen has some half cooked cold noodles served with beef, boiled egg, cucumber and  watermelon slices, and an optional "Karami" spice.

   The current Sansa Odori festival has been celebrated in its actual shape as a tourism promoting activity for about 3 decades and a half. However, its history claims to be much older than that, coming from a circular dancing celebration around a rock, linked to the legend in which a Devil swore not to come back by laying its hand on that rock, a legend that makes sense for the prefectural name "IwaTe" which translates as Hand on the Rock. This festival registered in the year 2007 a Guiness Record on being the Parade with the largest number of drums being used.
  
   The common agroupment for each formation had some lantern and banner holders walking first, drummer playing dancers followed, making the earth beneath you vibrate with all their enthusiasm, afterwards the flute players, and the empty-handed dancers followed. Volunteer members of the Girl Scouts of Japan would walk ahead of each formation indicating the number of the marching group. The Boy Scouts were present by having their own group formation, with even the little Beavers and Cub joining the celebration!

1)Banners

 2) Dancing Drummers

3) Flute Dancers

(imagine it! I coud not find a nice picture)

4) Empty-handed Dancers, who make really delicate gestures by using their hands and arms.

 This is how the dynamics of the dance go

   Near the end, Sponsors bragg not only their numerous group members but also some carts with their name.

    This group is called the Pika Pika (Sparking) Dancers, and they were my favourites!!! They all wore unique costumes and still managed to follow the dance steps and rhythm of the Parade!

    Once all the parade is done, the dancers in the last cart invite the expectators to join in a Wa-odori or in-a -circle dancing fashion. It felt so good to be part of the festivities!!! Now that I have had a blast on this first destination, I can move on to my next stop. I cannot wait to see what awaits for me tomorrow! 

Thank you for reading =)



Matsuri Fever

  Japan is known for many things, and one of these is the peculiarity of its diverse festivals, or "祭り". These are held either in a small neighborhood scale, such as Bon Odori or some of the New Year's Mochi-making traditions, or in big, town scale size, such as Kyoto's Gion Matsuri, Tokyo's Kanda Matsuri or Osaka's Tenjin Matsuri. The biggest difference on the scale of the event is, of course, whether the local events aim for every member of the community to participate, the larger scale events attract people from all over Japan and overseas, boosting the tourism industry.

  Looking back at my almost 4 years and a half of living in Japan, I recall going to local Bon Odori festivals and helping with the Omikoshi carrying, also watching as an expectator the Asakusa Samba Festival and the Kagurazaka Awa Odori, or even dancing in one of the parades at the Yassa Matsuri in Yugawara. Since I moved to Osaka I have been able to enjoy the Otaue Matsuri, Gion Matsuri and Tenjin Matsuri. Also, on trips to Kyushuu I have also seen Nagasaki Lantern Matsuri, Karatsu Kunchi, the Air Balloon Festival, and when in Okinawa the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri. Endless source of festivals, Japan is now over the peak of its summer season, so I took the plunge and finally set for the North-Eastern region known as Tohoku.

  Without the unlimited Shinkansen JR Pass, nor the budget to buy each shinkansen ticket, I am adventuring with a JR seasonal ticket called the "seishun juuhachi kippu", which translates as the Youth 18 Ticket. Despite its name, it can be used by people of all ages, and what makes this ticket special is that it enables its users to ride as many local trains as they want during the lenght of a day. The full price is 11850 yen and includes 5 tickets that can be used on separate days. Considering that each ticket costs about 2370 yen and can take you for example for distances such as Tokyo to Osaka, it is a cheap deal for travelers who can afford a full day sitting on a train. If we consider the usual Tokyo-Osaka trip fare, done by shinkansen costs 12600yen, by local train full fare costs 8000+\-, or by night bus around 4000yen, so this ticket is quite cheap in comparison. However, the distance is covered in about 10-12hs, so bring some books for the journey! Link http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html

   My trip schedule aims to have a glimpse of each of the Northern Prefectures biggest festivals, dedicating a day to each of these. Here is the map of Tohoku:

    I have researched on the lenght of the festivals, some lasting 3 days, others 8 days, and chose a loop-like route starting in Iwate, going through Aomori, Akita, Yamagata and Miyagi. This is how my tight schedule is

 I may go for cheap accommodation such as backpacker lodgings, comic cafes (Manga Kissa), karaoke boxes, mc donalds, etc. And sleep in between trains. I hope to write an entry about these festivals once I am back!!!

  Here I list some pictures of the festivals I will be attending. In order I visit them, these are:

  Morioka Sansa Odori (August 1st-4th) Iwate Prefecture

  Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (August 2nd-7th) Aomori Prefecture

  Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri (August 1st-7th) Aomori Prefecture

  Akita Kanto Matsuri (August 3rd-6th) Akita Prefecture

  Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri (August 5th-7th) Yamagata Prefecture

  Sendai Tanabata (August 6th-8th) Miyagi Prefecture