Abare- Fire & Violence Festival
This past weekend Zach and I headed up north with some friends to the tiny town of Ushitsu for a fire and violence festival. The festival is about 330 years old, and occurs to thank the gods for removing a plague from the town. 40 different floats, or kirikos, are carried throughout the town from one shrine to another. These things are huge! There are also two mikoshi, or smaller floats, which are carried through town, bathed in the river, beaten, and then burned in a huge bonfire before being given as an offering at the shrine. Hence, the violence. We had long heard that it was one of the best festivals in Japan, so we were very excited!! We certainly had a lot of fun!!
Perhaps the greatest taxi driver ever! Not only did he originally agree to take seven of us in the taxi (before the policeman's wife who was manning the police station on her own agreed to drive the others on her birthday the half hour to the festival- love small towns!), but when he was stopped by the police for driving on streets that were closed off, he explained to the police officer he had to get the foreigners to the festival! And the police officer waved him through!!! Almost as funny as in the taxi on the way home when the police officer told our driver we couldn't go through when a very drunk old man walked up to the police officer and told him to let us through, and the police officer said okay! Gotta get the foreigners out!
The BEST meat-on-a-stick of my life!
The mikoshi gets ready to burn!
The kiriko lined up ready for parading! They were so big and heavy! Zach carried one for half an hour, and his shoulder is all scratched up and bruised!
The crowd watching the bonfire.
posted by Zachary and Jane @ 2:49 AM
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