The Great Kakegawa Festival

Yesterday we boarded a lovely MWR bus and went to the Great Kakegawa Festival.  I'm not exactly sure what this festival is about, but I do know that it happens every 3 years, so since we're only here for 3 years, we thought we should go.   It didn't have as much variety as I expected, but we went with friends, so we had a good time.   There were 2 parades. The first one consisted of different towns in the area, competing for the best entry.  To me, an outsider, each one was very similar. They stopped in front of the judges and did a dance (those weren't so similar) and then continued through the parade route, stopping occasionally to perform again.     Oh, but before the festivities began, we toured the Castle and Palace.  We forgot to bring our real camera, so the iphone had to work.  They're definitely not as good as our Nikon would have been, but they work.

The Kakegawa Castle.   I took more pics of the cool things on/in it, but they didn't turn out good enough to post.  There's a steep wall and spikes all around it, to keep the intruders out.  And in case that didn't work, they have windows/trap doors to throw boiling water and oil onto the bad guys.

Me, Jaylee and Jimena pretending to be ninjas in one of the tatami rooms in the Kakegawa Palace.

One of the exhibits in the Palace.  I liked their umbrellas.

Bryan pretending to meditate in the Palace.

Each town in the area had one of these wagon-like "floats" in the parade.  They take many people to operate and they steer them all zig-zaggy down the road.  They seem to enjoy it and it's fun to watch.

There are several kids in the wagons who play the drums.

They're getting ready to start performing for the judges.

The shirts that they all wear are called "happis". 

This photo is blurry, but you can kinda see the intricate woodwork at the top of the wagon.  And I guess this guy's job is to sit up top and make sure nothing happens to the decorations on top.

The 3 lions!  They're a big deal at this festival.

They're getting ready to be in the parade.

Have you noticed that they're all wearing the traditional wooden sandals?   Some of the kids who wear them refuse to pick up their feet when they walk and I heard lots of wooden shoes dragging on the ground all day long.

These girls must be special, because they get to be the drummers for the lion float.

 Here's a video from this area:

The striped "lion" is the big deal of the festival.  It takes lots and lots of people to operate him.

It started pouring down rain and our bus wasn't where we were told it would be.  So we got drenched :-(

All in all, fun day!  I think one of my favorite parts of Japan is that they're so advanced in many ways but yet they celebrate their past and traditions so often.

Thanks for reading!