Omatsuri Day 2

Kakegawa Matsuri Day 2

This was my day off, so I was prepared to party, I mean research, for 12 hours straight. I was very excited. As I set out, local yatais in my neighbourhood were already celebrating and wheeling around the hood. WOW. I am really getting an appreciation for the Japanese ability to seriously party.


Matsuri is for everyone, the whole family. Everyone gets dressed up!

Hmmm. Hapi dog? (ok, it is a silly pun on hapi coats; what the dog is wearing:)





I check out the tourist counter and pick up a map and schedule of festivities, not that I can read it, so I ask about the main feature which is the giant shi shi (lion) that appears during the Omatsuri every three years. I learn it is already about and that there is a procession at 1:00pm. I check out the area and see that near the castle area is a central media hub where all the yatais will stop and do a short performance of their distinctive song/dance. There is some media commentary to accompany the event. There is also a huge video screen at the main intersection of town so that everyone can see what is going on, which is difficult with the throngs of people congested around the media hub.










I decide to track down the shi shi before the procession begins. It does not take long to find it. It is quite large and appears unwieldy. But I enjoy its spectacular presence, as does everyone else.

I get to enjoy parts of the procession, but find myself chasing after the demon drummers for most of the afternoon, as I could not capture them on video at the media hub. What a saga. The one time I caught up with them, my video camera did not capture the moment. The drummers maneuvered around specific areas of town to perform their ceremonial purification. I finally catch up and am very pleased not only to capture the entire event, but also to be able to interview the O’sensei. Ethnomusicology field work at its finest. I am very pleased with myself. I am pretty much running around town trying to capture this, that and everything.

There is a break at 5:00 where the yatais stop for dinner and light the lanterns. This same ritual took in Osuka, but this time I can watch it all.

At 6:00, the partying resumes and this evening it gets heated. People are full out in party spirit and I observe something of a feud taking place between yatais. People have had too much to drink and things finally settle down. There was a huge congestion of yatais at the intersection and everyone wanted their moment in front of the video cameras. I stayed and followed after some yatais, curious to see their journey home. It was quite an incredible day/evening and I was quite exhausted and prepared to do it all over again for the last day.