Sunday began the annual summer festival (matsuri) of Hachinohe Sansha Taisai (八戸三社大祭). It is the festival of the three shrines. There is a procession of twenty-seven floats, pulled by long ropes. The floats barely make it around corners in the narrow streets.
Sunday night, Renae and I wandered through the center of downtown admiring each float. The floats stay in one place and you can look at them from every angle. Taiko drummers, flutes and children chanting serenade the floats. The town is full of people, food stalls and carnival style games. My first experience at a Japanese festival, I was captivated by the detail of the floats and beautiful children in traditional yukata. On Tuesday evening, I got to participate in the procession of floats, pulling it through the town. Our float was pulled by the city office employees, so many of the ALTs in Hachinohe helped pull the float. Before the parade, Japanese women dressed me piece by piece in the traditional yukata (summer kimono). It was fun to be wearing the yukata I had admired a few days before.
I was amazed at the crowd of people as we tugged the float through the streets. I got many stares and heard many people wonder outloud, “gaijin!?" (foreigner). I waved and said, “hello” in response.
I can’t believe it is already coming to the end of my second week in Japan. I look forward to welcoming Todd to Hachinohe on Friday and checking out another Aomori festival, Nebuta this weekend!
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