MATSURI~#! 野洲の兵主大社での祭り

祭

野洲の兵主大社

It's Golden Week!! Time to matsuri like there's no tomorrow! I went to my first matsuri today, and it was AMAZING! I was going to participate in it with the other exchange students but I'm recovering from a cold-fever so I took it all the pictures. My friends were carrying this huge taiko. As they are walking, they all shout back and forth at each other in a pattern, with kakegoe. On matsuri days, these portable shrines and special drums are taken out of the shrine and paraded around for everyone in the town to see and enjoy.



At matsuri, sake and beer are free for all the participants. The way the guys carry their omikoshi (palanquins) is totally different than the women.
The guys kick up dust and weave in and out, careening everywhere. When these guys weaved in close to the edge of the path where I was standing, they were steaming off sake and sweating like hell. For the guys, carrying the omikoshi is a show of strength--they heft the omikoshi high in the air and then push it around so the guys on their team on the other side has to grab on tight and push back to stay on track. The palanquains like the one below usually weigh about 6,000-7,ooolbs. Some of the guys were so sexy! It was so exciting when the teams of guys were coming out of the shrine with their omikoshi! Hey Tammy, when I saw this, I was thinking, 「激しくて、迫力ある～！すううごい！」 This LINK is also for you


Choi-to!


I will participate in a matsuri later this year. They need people to help out, so if you come to Japan around the right time, you can help them out and participate, too. Many matsuri coordinators don't care where you're from or what you look like, they're just happy to have some help carrying their omikoshi!