Twas the Eve of Omatsuri

Kakegawa Castle

October 5, 2006


Kakegawa has been gearing up for its Omatsuri, which takes place every three years, for a while back. I noticed even a month and a half ago, as I cycled home in front of someplace like a community center. The sounds of taiko emanated from the building, with a large conglomerate of vehicles parked around. That was the first noticeable sign. Then around the city, signs began to pop up. One thing I noticed was an unusual number of men jogging around. I speculated at some point, since I don’t usually see anyone running, and guessed that the men of the village were getting in shape for wheeling the yatais (portable festival shrines) around for the occasion. Yatais could be spotted around town, while folks attended to repairs and refurbishing. Lanterns started sprouting around town. One community center had a line of matsuri lanterns all lit up a week before. The train station experienced quite a face-lift with a buzz of renovation and constructions. A bunch of new shops suddenly opened up just days before the Omatsuri. New tourist information posts also sprouted around the station. A 3-d sign that usually advertised ramen was replaced with several different replicas that included Kakegawa castle, the matsuri lion, and famous samurai figures.

This years Omatsuri would be even larger and more widely attended due to a NHK samurai drama, “Ko Myo Gatsuji”, that was shot and centred around Kakegawa castle. Kakegawa was on the map now big time. Matsuri paper flowers started to appear all around town, as well as posters advertising the festival.


Friday night, things really began to take shape. One neighbourhood center ran a dress rehearsal, performing an opening ceremony and demonstrating to the sensei, the final product of much work. The yatai was wheeled around, music and dance was performed and the sensei gave his sign of approval. I was happily caught in the middle of this scene and quite happy to observe. I ditched my work gear at home and grabbed a camera as I ran out to check out the city that night.

Castle cats

I discovered Kakegawa castle lit up by huge spotlights that gave it something of an eerie, but spectacular sight. I discovered a community of cats that seemed to live there, perhaps feral. I heard bustles from different community centres around town. I could see people working on various adornments and figurines that would be hoisted upon the yatai. And I could smell sake fumes that were emanating from centres. It was definitely Omasturi time.