This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
It’s summer time in Japan. And that means that it’s festival time.
There are, of course, a wide variety of rare and locally exclusive festivals held in Japan throughout the year that are a bit strange—from fire-throwing festivals and naked festivals to penis festivals, etc. If you are at all interested in Japan, you have probably heard stories or read blog posts about at least one or two strange festivals that take place here and have thought to yourself, If I ever make it to Japan, I’m definitely going to this/that festival.
I have a list of such festivals, myself, that I hope to make it to someday. The reality, though, is that planning a trip to one of these obscure festivals can be a lot of work. You need to be available to travel on the dates that the festival occurs and you need to get yourself to the area where it is occurring. Doing so sounds (and is) simple enough, but when the everyday demands of life come into play, going to a bizarre and far-off festival easily gets puts on the continuously rolled over Maybe I’ll Do It Next Year list.
Much more easier to catch and participate in are the local summertime festivals that occur all over Japan, often some time between the third week of July and the third week of August.
If you are traveling through Japan at this time of year, while you will have to contend with the heat and almost unbearable humidity of this country, you are almost certain to stumble upon a procession of people in matching yukata carrying an omikoshi (portable shrine) while being followed by people either playing wooden flutes or beating on wooden drums.
In addition, you are almost certain to find parks and/or narrow streets filled with yatai (vendors) selling a wide variety of food and toys, and offering a wide variety of games to be played. In the evening, you may follow the sound of music to the surreal scene of a thousand people or more carefully lined up and spaced out along one or two kilometers of a single street doing a traditional dance. You will most likely have the good fortune of seeing fireworks at least once and, if you are lucky, you may stumble onto a blocked off rode where a fighting festival is taking place--teams of beer drinking yukata clad men smashing their omikoshi into their oponents’ and engaging in pushing contests. Maybe, you will even be asked to participate.
Recently, as I do every year, I went to a festival in Niigata City called Kanbara Matsuri.
While not quite a summer festival in the typical sense, this festival is always a sign for me that festival season has begun. Every year, it is held from June 30 to July 2 and has the distinction of having the most yatai (vendors) at a single festival in Japan—approximately 450 vendors spread out across a one kilometer stretch of road.
This street is very narrow and, especially at night, very crowded. If you go, you will find yourself packed shoulder to shoulder in a slowly moving crowd from which you and your friends will occasionally exit to buy and eat things like yaki-soba and snow cones, or fried chicken and yaki-tori, etc. When you are ready, you will reenter the mass and slowly make your way to a shrine that is surrounded by a variety of games and a haunted house. Here, if you so choose, you can try your luck at ring toss or a knock-the-bottle-down game. You can also go into the haunted house for laughs or maybe even scares (watch out for the person in there). And lastly, you can pay a visit to the shrine and make a wish of some sort while clapping, bowing, and ringing the shrine’s bell in the same way that the people did before you.
For teenagers and adults, beyond talking and sharing food with your friends and family, a lot of the fun of this festival is not knowing who you will run into.
This is a festival that many people go to, so you are almost guaranteed to run into an old friend, co-worker, or acquaintance that you haven’t seen in a year or more.
For children, the fun, of course, lies in playing games, getting new toys, eating special candies like caramel covered grapes and strawberries, chocolate covered bananas, and lollipops in the shape of famous cartoon characters, and possibly even coming home with a new pet like a goldfish or a turtle.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanamara_Matsuri
The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri (かなまら祭り, "Festival of the Steel Phallus")
https://www.tsunagujapan.com/10-strange-japanese-festivals/
Thanks for informing us of Japan's unique festival culture! I had no idea.
Looks like you've found some good info already.
lol
Kanbara Matsuri was the first Matsuri I went to here, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe with you...
Enjoyed this. And didn't know that about the record number of Yatai. Resteeming now.
Yep. And Nick was there too. I'm not sure about the details of the yatai, if it's the most in the smallest amount of space, or if it's the most at a festival, but it's a record of some sort.
Happy festival season. I would love to celebrate a Japanese authentic summertime festival. My favorite would probably end up being the food. I would look to eat a lot of yaki-soba and yaki-tori and perhaps kara-age!
There can be quite a variety to choose from, and often the smells entice you. You'd be surprised what you end up eating just because it looked so good at the moment. Personally, I like entering the dance festivals and learning a traditional dance. Also, the most fun I've had has been in a fight festival. It was also the scariest and one of the drunkest ones I've been to.
That is so interesting to read about, Japan is one my favorite cultures because it is so unique.
Great post. Looks like the festivals are a lot of fun.
They definitely can be. Depending on the type, they can be very relaxing and nice or they can be a great place to get a little wound up.
Great post . Thank you for shearing information of Japan. Have a nice day.
Thanks. You too.
Festivals in Japan have always been intriguing to me and there seems to be plenty of them. Seeing these post makes me want to visit Japan sooner then what my wife and I have planned. However, we will get there eventually and hopefully we will stumble upon some awesome festivals!
There's no hurry. I can't see the future but I'm pretty sure that Japan and its festivals aren't going anywhere.
Wonderful post, thanks so much for sharing it. I have always been interested in the culture and history of Japan. However, after hearing some of your stories about the festivals there, I am definitely interested in going to several of them.
I am just curious. What's on your list of festivals you are thinking of going to next year?
That's a good question. I often forget their names, but I'd like to go to the Tanabata Festival in Sendai and a festival that is known for its parade-like paper floats in Aomori (I think), and the fire throwing festival that I mentioned, which might be in Kyushu, and the snow festivals in Hokkaido and Tokamachi, and, and, and ...
Congratulations! Great article
I'm glad you liked it.
I enjoyed going to these festivals a lot, way back in the day.
You could get some dope food, and watch fireworks with ridiculous patterns later at night. I remember trying to catch those goldfish too. I don't remember if I was ever successful, but I think I was...or maybe they just gave consolation prize fishies.
For me, Japan was the best country for summer vacation, at least as a youth.
I can imagine spending time in the countryside here when you're young would be great! Lots of bugs to catch and fruit to eat, cold rivers to play in.
I like that game, too, where you try to scoop a balloon out of a water filled bucket using a hook made out of twisted tissue. Sometimes the balloons have money in them. I've never won, but I know it can be done.
I don't remember balloons with money inside; that's fun. I remember flimsy spatulas or something, when trying to get those fish.
When you're young it's like a mystical wonderland. I loved going to the beach and bodyboarding. There was this jungle gym type thing in the water too, and that was cool. One time when I was somewhat older I went to this island bath resort. There was one bath in a cave with hot water, and the sea breeze came up the mountainside and was pretty chilly. I remember that feeling really good.
I also loved getting after school snacks, then messing around with the video game consoles, since they had the good ones first. My favorites were the PC Engine with the CD-ROM module, and playing Street Fighter II for Super Famicom.
Sounds like you had a great time! I was thinking of another game. I know the one you're talking about, though. My son always wants to do it.
Haha, you should let him! ;)
And yeah, I miss those days.
I am always willing to, but my son wants to do everything so I make him choose. Usually, he ends up playing with the cork guns. He has done that game a few times, though.
marijuana brownies? ;)
You can get those easily where I live, but in Japan I've read getting weed is pretty difficult. I think you can find it in Tokyo, but I've never looked. I think it's dangerous to have, cause the penalties are pretty harsh, from what I understand.
It's definitely not worth the risk. The penalties are very strict here.
Definitely not in Japan.
@boxcarblue- You have captured vibrant glimpses of life in Japan. It was fun looking at Kanbara Matsuri festival through your eyes. I can visualize how people intermingle and suddenly meet long lost friends. I enjoyed the pictures showing the people since people are the main ingredient of any festival. Thanks
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