Morioka Sansa

Date: Thursday 1^st August 2013

MP3 track of the day: Why does it always rain on me – Travis

Weather: rain, rain and more rain; until the festival was over and then it stopped … naturally.

My 2013 summer holiday started in a very relaxed way. No early buses to catch, no stressful sprints to the airport terminal and no foreign salesmen asking me if I would to purchase a penguin. This year I slept in until 10:30am, moped around my apartment until 1:45pm before finally setting off towards my prefecture's capital city, Morioka, for it's annual summer festival.

Well the above isn't completely true. Before setting off I stopped to pick up my good friend Francis, who would be accompanying me, for the festival, before heading south to Tokyo. I picked up Francis and, at precisely 2:08pm, off we went in a westerly direction towards Morioka.

The drive was the same as usual; route '106' (which connects my town to Morioka) meanders through a tight valley following the Hei River. The scenery was as beautiful as usual, the road had someone driving 15km below the speed limit as usual and Francis fell asleep as usual. All-in-all the drive wasn't anything to write home about; the only thing which was different was that it rained continually throughout our journey.

We arrived in Morioka at around 4pm. I thought, arriving three hours before the Sansa Festival started, would have meant that I would have beaten the crowds and parking wouldn't have been a problem. I was wrong. The first two car parks I found were full; the 3^rd had spaces, was reasonably cheap but a little further out of town than I would have liked. Due to having ample time, but little cash, 'reasonably cheap' took priority over 'a little further out of town than I would have liked' and so I docked into one of only a handful of spaces left, on the top floor of the car park.

With the engine switched off I jumped out of the car to find that it was still raining. Throughout the whole day it had rained however, the severity of rain had changed constantly. To quote Peter Kay, at 4:10pm I would say that 'it was spitting'. Annoyingly I hadn't planned for rain. I'd remembered Morioka's 2012 summer temperatures and dressed accordingly in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The only comfort I received from my 'wardrobe cock-up' was that, currently, it was just about hot enough for the rain to dry as soon as it landed on me; oh and that Francis had made the same error.

We headed into town and dived under the first bit of cover we found. Fortunately, under this 'footpath with a roof', we found a man giving out free 'Sansa programmes' which included a few excellent photos of Sansa 2012, a tiny bit of useful information, a terrible map of where the parade will take place and bucket loads of adverts ranging from hotels, to restaurants to that guy trying to sell a penguin. Nevertheless, it was within this booklet of adverts that we discovered something crucial; the parade started at 6pm, not 7pm. This meant that I had arrived two hours before the event and not three, which explained the mystery of why all the parking was occupied so early into the day. This also meant that Francis and my 'dinner date' had to be brought forward an hour so that we did not miss the festival.

Choosing something to eat is always difficult when there is more than one of you. The annoying phase 'I don't mind' which, I am sure, was created by the devil himself, surfaced numerous times and so therefore we decided to walk around until something grabbed our attention. Little did I know but, right at that point in time, God intervened and washed away, quite literally, the devil's evil phases by increasing the rain to 'it's time to go inside' level. At this point both Francis and I were in an area without any cover and so a harmless looking Italian restaurant started to become more and more appealing.

Once inside I realised, quite quickly, that 'harmless' wasn't quite the correct word to describe it. For an average amount of money, I got a less than averaged sized spaghetti. I ate it greedy and, still feeling a little hungry afterwards, we stopped at Mr Donuts for … err … some doughnuts.

The festival hadn't even begun but, as we devoured our dessert, we saw a strange sight which, thinking back, was never eclipsed throughout the entire festival. As I was finishing my 'banana doughnut' a Japanese man dressed in a zebra skin-tight body suite, with a keg of beer attached to his back posed in front of us for a photo. At the time he was also smoking a cigarette and he had glasses on which flashed all the colours of the rainbow. It was indeed a strange sight but, weirdly, I didn't feel alarmed and I just accepted it as the 'norm'.

It was getting close to the start of the parade. The rain was still coming down and, looking up towards the sky, it seemed as though it would continue raining all night. As we followed the crowds east, back towards our car and out of the shopping area, I did thinking about buying an umbrella however my hatred for the thing, plus the cost, teamed up against my 'logical self' and won. I therefore found myself heading to a watch a festival in a wet t-shirt with no possibility of cover.

Little did we know but we had followed the crowds to where the parade started from. This, quite naturally, was packed with both performers and spectators a like. My hatred for the umbrella grew when I discovered just how much of your 'line of sight' is removed when a wall of umbrellas are positioned in front of you. We made a unanimous, and quick decision to head further down the parade street in search of a 'good spot'.

Due to the crowds of spectators moving this way and that (probably with the same goal as us) we moved in time with the front of the procession. We finally found an excellent viewing spot with, sadly, little cover. The only spectators between us and the procession were sat down in temporary made shelters which only came to 'waist height'. With the beat of hundreds of drums we knew that the parade was on it's way.

Sansa is a dance which originates from Iwate (this Japanese prefecture). Most prefecture summer festivals cling onto something local and famous, and bleed it dry. The Sansa festival was no exception. Thousands (and I do mean thousands) of people paraded the streets in individual bocks made up of around one hundred people. Each block followed a similar layout with a sponsorship banner at the front, a few 'randoms' dancing enthusiastically behind and the main 'block' of people (lined up in a 8 x 10 grid) forming the rear. This man block was split into three parts with the drummers at the front, followed by the flutes who were followed by the dancers. Due to the rain the drummers had plastic bags wrapped over the drums to protect them. As the 'drummers drum' is attached to their stomach area, it allows them to dance as well as play and the whole group moves in harmony (unless little children are present).It was great to watch however, after the seventh group (I think there must have been at least twenty groups) things did start to get very similar. In the end my enjoyment for the festival moved from the dancing and onto the sight of seeing so many people moving 'as one', the constant beat of the drums and the individual groups clothing. Each group was wearing different coloured 'yukata's' (a kind of kimono) and, as the group danced as one, the colours and patterns almost came alive. My favourite yukata's were the ones which were the same pattern three-quarters of the way around and then, on their right side, was a totally different colour. This meant that when the group turned sideways the whole colour of the group changed for a split second.

The rain was starting to fall even harder yet Francis and I remained where we were and didn't run for cover. Personally I had two reasons for this. Firstly I only plan on seeing this festival once therefore, I want to see it all. Secondly the performers kept on coming; they all had smiles on their faces and were determined to have a good time. I decided that if they can keep going, so can I. It was in these moments of torrential down pour that I wondered if the performers actually preferred rain to baking summer temperatures. Either way they are going to get wet and, personally, I would prefer it to be rain rather than sweat. Also, if the weather had been fine, I reckon Francis and I wouldn't have had such a commanding view. The only annoying thing was that, occasionally, people with umbrellas would stop behind me and watch the parade. Their umbrella would prevent rain hitting them however, the water would drip off the edge of the umbrella and onto my back. Three times a whole torrent of water rushed down my back when a person, with an umbrella, tipped it unintentionally as they readied their camera.

At 8:30pm the final group danced past us. Francis wanted to see where the parade ended and so we headed off. It was on this walk that, now with the air flowing past me, I realised just how wet and cold I was. Luckily I had my P.E. Kit (for school) within the car so, once back, I could get changed into something dry.

It didn't take too long to find the end of the parade and, strangely, there wasn't anything there. The lanterns, which lit the parade street, sort of ended. Afterwards darkness consumed the street making it rather uninviting.

Thoroughly soaked Francis and I marched back towards the car stopping at a temporary food outlet. The rain, naturally, had stopped so Francis purchased a couple of 'Japanese festival food products' before we continued back on our journey. Once at the car I got changed and, once finished, Francis did the same.

I knew that the weather had put a lot of people off attending the festival however, there must have been about 3,000 performers and at least double that watching. I was therefore expecting traffic chaos (and I had to get Francis to the 'southern bus station' for his night-bus to Tokyo) however the streets were silent; I didn't have to queue to get out of the car park and I could even choose which ticket barrier I wanted to exit from. As I made it onto the main street I drove my normal speed without hindrance from any other vehicle. I would even go as far to say that it was even quieter than normal.

As I drove towards the southern bus station an empty road, plus a line of green traffic lights, greeted me which resulted in us being two hours early for his bus. Due to this, and the fact that I was a little hungry, we popped into a local McDonald’s to reflect on the days performance. With an hour to spare I dropped Francis off at the bus station and made my way home.

Due to the darkness the journey was even less interesting than the one coming here. I did, however, make excellent time and even though I left at 10:38pm, I found myself entering my apartment at … a very reasonable time (I can't write the exact time just incase the police are reading this and they do a 'average speed' calculation). Once home I put stuff away, put my wet clothes out for washing and went to bed as quickly as possible. Tomorrow I will be at home but the day after (Saturday 3^rd August) I am off to Akita for another festival.

It won't be long before another update.

Toodle Pip!

The largest festival in Northern Honshu

Sunday 27^th May 2012

Weather: Hot and sunny with no breeze; a beautiful day.

MP3 Track of the day: Universally Speaking - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

I very rarely see 5:30am, on a Sunday morning; however, with Morioka expecting record numbers of people, I reluctantly got up when my alarm told me to. This weekend, Morioka was holding a festival to bring a little joy to all the areas affected by last years tsunami. There were people from Morioka, Sendai, Aomori and from all over the Iwate province and each place had its own group of entertainers, taking part within the festival. With so many people, heading to one place, it was paramount that I arrived early. This is why I found myself within the shower at 5:35am, trying to be ready to leave Miyako at 7am and arrive in Morioka at 9am. The parade didn't start until noon and so, arriving at 9am, I hoped to beat the crowds.

Things started well; I found myself, within my car, at 7:10am heading west along the '106'. The '106' is the main road between Morioka and Miyako. It's a single carriageway that follows a river as it meanders along its path; ether side of the river lies steep mountains covered with trees. Today the weather was beautiful and there wasn't a cloud in the sky; instead the sun hit the trees, creating every shade of green possible. The river was a crystal-clear blue colour and it was a pleasure to meander my way along the '106' that morning. The only slight snag was the trip itself; even though the road has many twists and turns, it doesn't deserve the 50km per hour speed limit the Japanese government has labeled it with. Along its many straights cars rarely do less that 80km; unless your name is Matthew Otter. I stuck religiously to the 50km speed limit, much to the annoyance of every car behind me (and considering that today was the festival, there were a lot of cars behind me).

Eventually the trees and mountains started to give way to buildings. The process was slow at first, but after two hours of driving I eventually found myself entering the city of Morioka on a blistering hot day. Even though I'd arrived three hours before the parade was due to start, the city was crammed full with people walking in every direction possible. Not wanting to push my luck I launched my car into the first multi-storey car park I could find and docked. Even though the car park was out of town, it still only had a handful of spaces left. I locked my car, picked up my camera and left my jacket on the backseat. I then walked towards the city park, a good ten minute walk away.

Morioka's main park ('Iwate park') looked a lot different from my last visit (see my 'birthday' blog below). Since then the snow has receded and the flowers were in full bloom; this being a festival, there were hundreds of white tents and thousands of people. I had entered the park from its eastern edge and I soon found myself bombarded with sights, smells and limited walking space. First of all I went into the 'Festival Centre'; a permanent building erected on the eastern edge of the park. Inside there were two floats (not used in the parade), on display, so tourists could take photos. The work to create these floats, must have been immense. Sat upon a wooden frame huge drums and statues of samurai – pouncing out of forests – were dominant. Waves lapped around the edges of the float, with ropes at the front for it to be pulled by a line of men. Both floats were very pretty and I took plenty of photos (please see my Flickr account).

I left the comfort of the air-conditioned 'Festival Centre' to be instantly reminded of just how hot today actually was. After putting on my shades I scanned the tents in front of me to find anything interesting. Hidden within the mountain of food outlets I found two slightly bizarre stalls; one had a car with ears on it (I think it had something to do with the deaf) and the other was selling 'irobots'. This small circular machine seemed to be a vacuum cleaner that cleaned your carpet by itself … lovely (and here is a link to one: http://en.gigazine.net/news/20091006_irobot_ceatec_japan_2009/ ).

As I moved further into the festival I saw more wonderful and bizarre things; Japanese lanterns, interesting children's fairground games, statues and many other items. The most dominant type of outlet were food and drink stalls, each with their unique smell adding another element to the day. Finally I made my way to the centre of the park where I found a stage, seats, more food stalls and hundreds of people. All of the people seemed to be facing the stage and waiting; I took this as a sign for 'something was about to happen'. With my very useful height advantage I found a shady spot overlooking the stage.

The beginning of the show reminded me of Terry Wogan's commentary on Eurovsion. The two hosts (one male and one female) took to the stage and started to talk for, what seemed like, years. I could hear Sir Terry saying 'oh do get on with it!' Eventually they were forced off stage by the first act, which was from Sendai.

To the right of the stage two huge bamboo structures, with many lanterns on each, stood proud and defiant. I thought they were for decoration however, as the boys from Sendai carried them in front of the stage, I knew that they had a purpose. As the drums started to beat these blokes balanced these large structures using only small parts of their bodies. First of all it was their palms, then their shoulders, then their chins and finally their hips. As the display went on they added additional height (in the form of extra bamboo poles), therefore the structure became as high as a three-storey building. It was all very clever and required a lot of skill.

After a good ten minutes they finished off with balancing this huge structure on their hips before bowing and walking behind the stage. For the rest of the show the acts followed a similar pattern to the below;

First of all the presenters would babble on about something before being removed. Then the act would consist of ladies dancing on a stage and drummers, whilst drumming, dancing in front of the stage. Each acts clothes were different (plus the beat and the dance moves were different) but after the first 'drum and dance routine' it was starting to wear thin. One interesting cultural reference is that, because a kimono allows for limited leg movement, most Japanese dances focus on delicate hand movements and small jumps, rather than a lot of steps.

The show lasted for about an hour. I was quite glad it had ended due to the time; it was 11am and the parade started at 12:30pm. This, I felt, gave me enough time to have something to eat before finding a place to view the parade. I therefore left my show viewing point and headed to one of the more 'out-of-the-way' food areas, in the vain hope of finding shorter queues. As I walked around, deciding what to eat, the queues were just as long as everywhere else; the longest by far was for the beef stall. A few weeks ago, in another town, I had tried this barbeque beef kebab. This dish consists of tender beef coated in pepper and barbequed; the result of which leaves you with 'melt in the month' beef and a spicy aftertaste … yum! I really wanted the beef, but the queues didn't justify the taste; I therefore opted for some fried chicken, drizzled in a lemon sauce, and a chicken kebab … both of which were lovely, but they were both a little dry. I then bought a large can of coke, from a vending machine, and went to find a spot to see the parade.

For such a large turnout, I was surprised to find that the parade was only happening down one street. This was the largest festival northern Honshu had ever seen, and so I was expecting the parade to include many streets, which 'zig-zagged' through the city centre … there were certainly enough visitors to justify an extension. Instead the parade only took part on one long, and straight, road. The people in charge had created an excellent 'crowd control' system where people walked along streets running parallel to the 'parade street' before finding an area which they liked, and turning up towards the 'parade street'. I chose a few viewing points, eventually deciding upon an area near the end of the parade. The whole 'parade street' was full of people having, what looked like, camped overnight to get their 'spot'; by the time I turned up I was relegated to a point quite far away; I had some shade, and a clear view, but I was still a bit far away.

Being near the end of the parade route, I could hear it before I could see it. It was led by the boys from Sendai and their magnificent balancing act. This wasn't the only act which was taken from the show earlier; in fact most of the acts were the same. It didn't matter as I loved seeing the colourful outfits one last time. There were three floats – too large to be in the park – which I hadn't seen before. These where spread along the parade in between the dancers and drummers; each one had a painstaking amount of work gone into it and each one was different. One looked as though Walt Disney had designed it (but only using their evil characters) and another was pulled by 50 people; it had samurai and drums on it with a viewing platform at the top. The final float was a simple design made of bamboo which, periodically, the guys pushing the float would stop and spin it around as fast as they could.

The whole procession was great; a real cultural feast from the beginning to end. There was never a dull moment and a photo opportunity came around every second; at the end of the parade I was still hungry for more.

After around two hours the parade ended with the people taking part walking back up the street, waving, as they went back to the start. After the last parade member had gone past I went away from the crowds and towards the railway station; there I met four friends and we all walked towards Iwate Park.

Things were starting to die down, even though the event didn't officially end for another two hours. We had another quick walk around, listened to some local bands and saw another balancing act, before finding a shady spot and sitting down. We sat their, chatting, until 6pm and during that time stalls, which were closing, gave us food which they had left over.

Eventually it was time to depart and I walked the ten minute walk back to my car. By now the temperature had dropped, but it was still fine to walk around in a t-shirt. I made it back onto the '106' and departed for home. I can't be too sure but I think, that night, I may have created another man-made object that could have been seen from space. Once again I stuck religiously to the 50km speed limit … and so did the car behind me … and so did the car behind that one … and so did the car behind that one. The result being that any car wishing to over take (and some tried) had to go round not one, but four cars. I can't be too sure how long the queue was, but I remember coming to the end of a long straight with a right turn; I looked in my right rear-view mirror and I couldn't see the end of the queue. It was a clear night and with that many head lights, I reckon the '106' was lit up pretty well.

After my slow dive home I eventually got back around eight. I had a quick tea before taking a bath and falling to sleep. As I dozed off I was already looking forward to the next Japanese festival.

Toodle Pip!

Birthday in Morioka

1^st April 2012 – White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits.

Weather: Sunny and bright in the morning; turning cold and overcast in the afternoon (In the evening it snowed).

MP3 track of the day: AKB48 – I love you

So, once again I find myself within Japan, on a Sunday, and with the day off. The only difference is that its my birthday, and I've moved north to Morioka, the capital of the Iwate province (pronounced Ie-wat-ae).Being my birthday, I decided to put my work information away (well, for the morning at least) and find something that I wanted to eat, no matter the cost. Last night I was out in Morioka, 'clubbing it up', until the early hours (some teachers popped by to introduce themselves); this meant that breakfast occurred around 10:30am.

I decided to hit 'Mr Donuts' for, err, donuts. The donuts themselves were fine. I had two; an iced, and a chocolate and coconut one. The problem was the drink; I asked for a hot chocolate, however it would appear that they didn't do 'a cup of coco'. I then asked for tea, but I received ice tea instead; I smiled, said thank you, and sat down.

The ice tea tasted like water, so it was at least drinkable. I left 'Mr Donuts' (probably for the final time), got out my camera and wondered through the centre of Morioka taking photos of this and that. I like Morioka; it's a large city (roughly 600,000 people) surrounded by mountains. The main 'bad boy' within this area is Mt Iwate; at around 2,038km high, its snow-capped dome was clearly visible.

I walked through the shopping streets until I hit 'Morioka Castle Park'; ages ago an old Japanese fort was built here, overlooking the two rivers below. Today, only the ruins of the castle remain, however English information (and maps) are located around the area giving you a sense of what it was like. I wondered around the area taking photos, giving a friendly 'good day' to the locals and generally enjoying myself. The walls were made of large pieces of local stone, and it's amazing to think how they got them up on this high hill.

After walking around for a bit I found myself within a small park, attached to the old castle by a small bridge. Crossing the bridge I took a photo of the very beautiful stream which flowed beneath; the area was covered in trees and only a few rays of light touched the ground.

One thing I wasn't expecting to see, was a North American totem-pole erected here in the middle of the park. As I read the inscription all became clear; Morioka is twinned with Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) and this was sent over as a present. Out of the two I think I prefer Victoria; Morioka is lovely, but Victoria just edges it (I wish I was back in Canada).

Finally I made it to the river; the river seemed very low and the stone banks were very dominant against the waterline. I took a few shorts, but didn't stay long as my next stop was a small temple located to the north of the park. This temple – called Sakurayama Shrine – was very beautiful but compact; trying to get a photo of the whole thing was nearly impossible. Plus, there were a few people bowing in front of the alter and making prayers; therefore I left sharpish, not wanting to disturb them.

As I was walking back to the main gate, what can only be described as an army – lined two abreast – were forming at the bottom of the castle. I peered over the battlements and noticed their transport vehicles and that, they seemed to be sub-divided into regiments, each one with a person in charge carrying a small green flag. It could only mean one thing, the Japanese 'tourist battle bus' had arrived in town. I continued to observe, noticing their 'leaders' pointing up towards the castle. I looked for reinforcements, to 'man the walls', but only Sharpe could have won with these odds. I therefore decided to 'leg it' north, towards a bunch of temples.

Having managed to escape the onslaught of the 'Japanese battle bus', I pressed north first finding the 'Rock splitting Cherry-tree' (a national monument). The tree is, funnily enough, emerging through a rock, splitting it in two. Apparently, when its in full bloom it's meant to look very nice; however it wasn't in full bloom and to me, it looked as though it had been set on fire. I pressed on even further north, towards the Daisenji Temple.

Daisenji Temple is actually an area of many temples, all with their own cemeteries; because of this, I only peered through the open doors and refrained from taking any photos. The buildings were very nice; most were in the traditional Japanese style, using mainly wood. After a quick look I pressed on to the 'Demon's Handprints', located behind the temple sites.

To get to the 'handprints' I had to go walk along many small, and narrow side-streets. In any other country, I would have been scared of attack; but in Japan, all I got were bows and 'good mornings'.

Once at the sight, a camera crew were setting up; I entered the area and went directly towards a plaque, which translated why these two huge stones, which were in front of me, were so important. Apparently there was a bad spirit who attacked the province of 'Iwate' for many years. The people prayed to a good god who eventually captured this evil spirit; the evil spirit wanted to get out and so, as a condition, he had to promise never to return to the area. The good god made him leave a hand print, as a signature, here in these rocks (also 'te', in 'Iwate', means hand).

After this I was getting hungry; I headed back into town where I stopped off for something yummy, before returning to my hotel to read some documents. The time, 2:30pm.

***

I finally emerged from my room at 6pm; as this was my birthday, 'cake' was a priority; I found a coffee shop where I managed to order a hot chocolate and a slice of cake (a small note; I'd found better looking cake else where, but without the hot chocolate … this was a compromise to get both). As I sat in the cafe, watching others getting on with their daily lives, I cast my mind back a year. It's strange to think that, last year, I wasn't too far away; I was at Ha Long Bay in Vietnam … I hadn't even been into China this time last year!

After my lovely hot chocolate, and okay cake, I returned to my hotel to chill and read a little more. Not sure what I'm going to do tonight; I'm not massively hungry so I may skip tea … I dunno!

Until the next time … Toodle Pip!