Miya Matsuri

Even though the procession of the shrines was four blocks away, I could feel the deep rumbling of the Tyco drums through the thin soles of my summer sandals. My feet were already tired from marching up and down the pavement alongside ODori all day long, but my excitement for seeing the procession made me forget any weariness; my determination was fueled by curiosity, street food, and cheap beer.
The timing of my arrival in Utsunomiya couldn’t have been better. The city’s largest festival, one that brings in over 500,000 people from all over Tochigi, transformed downtown Utsunomiya this weekend into a wonderland of giant crepe flowers, paper lanterns, little girls in kimono, and mobs of fit young men wearing nothing but a bit of cotton over their manly parts. I never quite got the full story on the purpose of the party, but gathered that it had something to do with carrying all the neighborhood shrines from all over the city to the base of the giant shrine in the middle of downtown. The shrines are carried on giant beams of wood, held up by strapping lads (and some ladies) who, while sweating turrets and grimacing in pain and ecstasy, chant out rhythmically to the lead of the young women who straddle the beams above them. The girls lash at the crowd with paper fans and elated cheers. These shrines (not to mention the wooden beams and ladies atop) are neither small nor lightweight; a crowd of dozens is needed to haul the whole fete a pied, and dozens more march behind and jump in as alternates as needed. Even after sunset, the concrete jungle of the city pulses with wet heat; the minimal dress of the processioners is necessary for coping.
My appreciation lies with this summertime fashion, as it does with several other elements of the festival:

1. Drinking beer in the street (though I’m told this is legal in Japan year-round; doing it at the festival with everyone else makes me feel like less of a lush, though...)
2. Costume in public (kimono and similar)
3. Sheer volume of people in festival disposition
4. Japanese street food

This last point is perhaps my favorite,and deserves its own sub-list:
a. fried squid balls
b. fried mochi potato cakes
c. fried cheese balls
d. fried chicken
e. fried fish cake
f. soba omelet
g. candied apple
h. yake soba
i. fried red-bean mochi cake
j. more fried squid balls
*please note that with the exception of (f), (h), and (i), everything listed above was served on a stick, making it all the more delicious.

After two days at the festival, I feel as though I may have used up my caloric allowance for the month of August, but have no plans on honoring it. Instead, I’ve pledged to cool it for awhile on the squid balls (and most other things which come in spherical form, fried, and on a stick).


Tomorrow I head North to Nasu Shiobara, where I’ll be participating in a children’s “English Focus Week” camp. I’m not sure of the 30 children participating in the five-day overnight camp have volunteered themselves or are serving penance for misbehavior. I’ll find out by the degree to which we gaijin are clowns or jail keepers.