(more!)
October 31, 2008
HAIBARA, Japan -- About 200 people paraded through the streets in what seemed to be an impromptu festival late Friday night.
"There I was, sitting in the dark, playing Text Twist in my underwear," said Bryan Lufkin, an American living in the area, "when suddenly I heard revelrous chanting and loud drums. I ran outside with my camera to investigate, nearly forgetting to put on some pants."
Lufkin reported that none of the locals had mentioned anything about a matsuri (Japanese festival) earlier that day, so the celebration took the 23-year-old English teacher by surprise. "I thought it was Jong-Il and his minions," he said.
The parade--the first of two to be held that night, with three more scheduled for the next day--honors the bounty of autumn's harvest. Local middle and high school students sat in a decorated float, playing bamboo flutes and taking turns banging a large drum.
Police and parade officials used barricades and traffic wands to direct vehicles away from the procession, which snaked its way through Haibara's backstreets until midnight.
"People came out of their houses to see what was going on, and joined in on the parade," Lufkin said. He noted people walking with beer bottles, taking pictures with camera phones and children piggy-backed over their parents' shoulders. "It was a really cool, traditional thing that you don't see in America," he added.
Japan, known for both its tradition and modernity, holds a variety of nationwide festivals all year, in addition to local celebrations. The next national holiday is shichigosan (translated as the "7-5-3 Festival"), in which five-year-old boys and three- and seven-year-old girls are taken to local shrines, where they pray for good luck.
In rural areas, matsuri like the autumn harvest festival are especially valued as community events.
"I felt like the stalking gaijin," Lufkin said.
No comments:
Post a Comment