The town “Karatsu” was so crowded with people that I wondered where all these people were coming from in such a rural town. Through the crowd, 14 two-ton floats made in the late Edo period race down the narrow streets one after the other. Each community has its own float, but the number of people pulling these floats is incredible. The floats are decorated with lion masks, warrior helmets, sea bream, and dragon ornaments that swing like pendulums, giving the floats a sense of dynamism. The entire float is made of gorgeous lacquer.
karatsu kunchi fes (1)
karatsu kunchi fes (4)
karatsu kunchi fes (5)
karatsu kunchi fes (6)
karatsu kunchi fes (7)
karatsu kunchi fes (8)
karatsu kunchi fes (9)
karatsu kunchi fes (11)
karatsu kunchi fes (10)
karatsu kunchi fes (14)
karatsu kunchi fes (13)
When turning into an alley, the persons sitting at the front of the float brake with the soles of their feet while the persons at the back forcefully turn the float, leaving clear brake marks on the road. To be honest, the enormous number of pullers at the front are not actually very useful in pulling the float, and it is moved by the more powerful people in front and behind the float, who are right next to it.
karatsu kunchi fes (3)
The sacred object enshrined at Karatsu Shrine is carried between the floats as a portable shrine, with the priest sitting on it. He didn’t move an inch until it passed right in front of me, so I thought it was a doll, but it was actually a real person.
karatsu kunchi fes (2)
The highlight is when the float is pulled into the sandy rest stops outside of shrine. As with any shrine, the deity travels away from the shrine once a year, and the vehicle on which it rides is called “Mikoshi.” It seems that the gods get bored of staying in the same place for a whole year, so this journey is the festival itself. The rest stops at the destinations are called “Otabisho.”
karatsu kunchi fes (15)
karatsu kunchi fes (17)
karatsu kunchi fes (16)
karatsu kunchi fes (18)
Returning to the main topic, at the Karatsu Kunchi festival, the rest stops are located on sandy ground on the coast, so it is hard to understand why the floats are pulled into such sandy ground that they would sink into it, but this scene is certainly the most exciting. The floats cannot be pulled into the designated place in one go, so they are pulled in with repeated shouts. The floats line up in a single line, turning back and forth like a car parking in a garage.
You can find your view points of Karatsu Kunchi on the following map published by Karatsu tourism office
Karatsu Kunchi course map and time
Near this rest stops is the former Takatori residence, the mansion of a coal mining magnate. Inside the huge house, cedar sliding doors have been removed to create a path for performers to emerge from the left, and the tatami mats on the stage have been removed to reveal a Noh stage underneath. There is a hollow stone underneath the stage, and when performers stomp on it, the sound echoes loudly. This is how he would entertain guests at his home to watch Noh performances. It’s a truly luxurious story.
karatsu city (3)
karatsu city (2)Takatori Residence
Furthermore, in this mansion, the best rooms are not those on the south side, which get plenty of sunlight, but those on the north side, which face the coast and offer a miniature garden of islands floating in the Genkai Sea, peeking through the pine forest. Just like in England, rooms facing north are considered superior.
karatsu city (1)
A short walk from the former Takatori residence along the remaining stone walls of the castle town will take you to the restored Karatsu Castle. If you climb up to the castle tower, you can enjoy a 360-degree view of Karatsu city, the sea, and the arching Niji-no-Matsubara (one of Japan’s three great pine groves). However, you can still see it in the garden in front of the castle tower without having to pay to climb it.
karatsu city (5)
karatsu city (4)
karatsu city (6)Karatsu Castle
karatsu city (14)
karatsu city (15)bank
karatsu city (6) a
karatsu city (7)
karatsu city (8)
karatsu city (9)pine forest
karatsu city (10)
Detour
On the way back to the town bustling with the festival, I came across the wharf for the ferry to Takashima. Takashima is a small, trapezoidal island floating in Karatsu Bay, and its shape suggests that it is an island that brings good fortune. Once on the island, you’ll find Hohto Shrine, a popular spot where prayers are said to grant you the blessing of winning the lottery. You’ll want to get at least the money back for the prayer fee and the ferry ticket…
Nagasaki Lantern Festival is just like the setting of “Spirited Away” produced by Studio Ghibli. The place where the main character, Chihiro, gets lost is a town decorated with lanterns. The pigs that appear in the story also appear as offerings, and the dragon that appears in the dragon dance is a deity that saves the main character. The rambunctious giant baby is part of the lantern decoration. You’ll have to find the witch lady and No-Face yourself.
The Nagasaki Lantern Festival venues are spread across the city, so it is difficult to see everything in one night. Depending on the venue, the lanterns are lit from 12:00 or 15:00, so I planned a route based on that, visiting the venues that were lit up earlier first and the venues where events were held later.
Lantern Fes Venue (yellow: Lantern Area)
But even though it was winter at 15:00, Nagasaki is the westernmost part of Japan, so it was still light all around. When the lanterns are lit at 15:00, you won’t even notice them unless you get close to the statue.
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (8)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (10)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (11)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (7)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (6)
In the end, I only managed to see the heart stone at 15:00 on Meganebashi(Spectacles) Bridge, and had to wait until it was completely dark before going back to see the yellow-toned lanterns.
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (2)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (1) heart stone
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (9)
Before lighting the lanterns, we recommend taking a leisurely stroll around Tojin-yashiki(Chinese houses district), Sofuku-ji Temple, and Kofuku-ji Temple, to think back to Nagasaki’s role as a gateway for trade with China. While the Dutch were confined to Dejima artificial island, the Chinese were restricted to living in a cone-shaped area. This is called Tojin-yashiki(Chinese Houses district), and an event is held in which people light candles and pray in four halls that were built for each of the Chinese people’s hometowns. Each hall enshrines the same god, but each one has a slightly different look. It consists of Kannon Bodhisattva, who is said to grant various blessings, Guan Yu, the god of business, Mazu (Empress of the Sea), who is prayed for safe voyages, and her companions, Clairvoyance, who can see things far away, and Wind-earing, who can hear sounds from afar. When the Chinese arrived in Nagasaki, they carried the statue of Maso enshrined on their ship to the Mazu Temple on the ground to give thanks for safety on the sea.
lantern2 chinese houses (1) gate of chinese houses district
lantern2 chinese houses (2)
lantern2 chinese houses (3)
lantern2 chinese houses (4)
lantern2 chinese houses (5)
lantern2 chinese houses (8) Kannon Bodhisattva
lantern2 chinese houses (9) Guan Yu, God of Business
lantern2 chinese houses (6) Clairvoyance
lantern2 chinese houses (7) Ears that can hear things from afar
lantern3 (2)The bowl-shaped Chinese residence district
lantern3 (4)
lantern3 (5) Shipwright Town
lantern3 (3)Large camphor tree
lantern3 (7) space station?
lantern3 (6)A long-established castella shop
lantern3 (8) police station
From here, you can walk along the foot of the mountain to Sofuku-ji Temple with two gates as National Treasure, then the “Hamanmachi” venue, which has an arcade and where lanterns are lit from noon, and Kofuku-ji Temple, which is home to Manpuku-ji Temple, the head temple of the Zen(Obaku) sect in Kyoto (Hotei is the principal deity).
soufukuji temple (1) national treasure
soufukuji temple (2)
soufukuji temple (3)
soufukuji temple (4) national treasure
soufukuji temple (6)
soufukuji temple (5)
soufukuji temple (7)
soufukuji temple (8) lonely electric fans
soufukuji temple (9) masodo
soufukuji temple (10)
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (1)
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (2)
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (3) unique building
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (4)
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (5)
lantern4 hamanmachi venue (6)
At Kofukuji Temple, the gate of the former Chinese residence has been relocated, and there is the remains of the building where Ryoma Sakamoto used to chat with Chinese people (destroyed by the atomic bomb). On the way, you will pass through a long, snobbish shopping street, and you will notice that there are so many closed shutters (FOR SALE signs).
kofukuji temple (1)
kofukuji temple (2)
kofukuji temple (3)
kofukuji temple (4) barrel-arched ceiling
kofukuji temple (5) circular window with ice-crest latticed woodwork
kofukuji temple (6) old chinese house gate
kofukuji temple (7)
kofukuji temple (8) destroyed by the atomic bomb
kofukuji temple (9)
After this, I passed by the Meganebashi(spectacles) Bridge, where the lights were turned on at 15:00, but it was too bright around me to see the lights. It was so cold with the snow and wind that I waited out the darkness at a nearby tea shop.
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (3)
lantern5 spectacles bridge venue (4) break
There are flashy lantern decorations and a stage for performances in Shinchi Chinatown venue. There were also 10 pig’s heads offered as offerings in the venue, but there was a sign posted saying that they were real.
For some reason, Okinawan Acer dance was also being performed at the main venue, Shinchi Chinatown, but Nagasaki is most famous for its dragon dance. Having seen the simple dances in Yokohama Chinatown, I didn’t have high expectations, but I was moved by the soulful dancing and the loud sound of the longest trumpets I had ever seen (longer (2m) and thinner than the vuvuzelas I saw at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa). The dragon dance is said to have developed from a rain-making ritual, and depicts a dragon swallowing a sphere representing the sun and moon, summoning rain clouds. On the other hand, the ceiling of the Buddha hall of the Zen temple also has a dragon painted on it, which is said to protect the Buddhist teachings and bring rain of teachings.
It was already dark, so I rushed to the bus stop near the main venue to take the free shuttle bus that I had booked online from 12:00 on the day to the ropeway station, but the bus never came. When I checked online, I found out that the ropeway was not operating today due to strong winds and snow. There was nothing else to be done, so I decided to take the tram back to see the lanterns at Meganebashi Bridge.
lantern1 (4) strong wind
lantern7 spectacles bridge venue at night (2)
lantern7 spectacles bridge venue at night (4)
lantern7 spectacles bridge venue at night (5)
lantern7 spectacles bridge venue at night (1)
In addition, the free shuttle bus that goes to the ropeway station can only be booked online if your boarding and disembarking locations are the same, but there are only four buses per day and evening, so you should make your reservation online just noon.
By the way, the remaining two of Japan’s three greatest night views are Mt. Hakodate, which was cloudy and we couldn’t see anything when we got up there by ropeway, and Mt. Maya in Kobe, which we didn’t have time to see during 15-hour survival traverse race of the entire Rokko mountain range.
The dance, representing cultivating the fields in the face of the harsh natural environment and praying for a good harvest, has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. The name Enburi comes from the name of a farm tool used to plow fields. The event is scheduled to be held every year from February 17th to 20th, in the middle of the coldest weather, making it an incredibly spirited time to awaken spring. The dancer wears a eboshi hat shaped like a horse’s head, and dances magnificently, swinging his head from side to side. This can also be seen in hip-hop dance, which includes snake choreography.
kojokaku (3)
kojokaku (4)
8000 brewery (9)eboshi hat
8000 brewery (7)
8000 brewery (6)eboshi hat
Teams are formed in each region and the tunes and movements are passed down. There are two types of Enburi: the slow and graceful “Naga-enburi” and the fast and heroic “Dosai-enburi.” In the former, one dancer wears an eboshi hat with a peony flower and other dancers surround him performing different dances, while in the latter, all dancers wear eboshi hats with five-colored tassels and perform the same dance. The dance movements represent the entire process of rice farming, from sowing seeds in the seedbed, to plowing the field with a horse, planting the rice, and finally harvesting. Furthermore, children (and occasionally the elderly) perform blessing performance, which is positioned as something to enjoy during breaks from farm work. The performance includes dancing with hoops that have coins attached to them, dancing with pine branches, and sea bream fishing. It seems that spectators sometimes attach gift money to the end of fishing hooks.
<Dosai-Enburi by Nukatsuka team>
<Naga-Enburi by Nakaibayashi team>
The teams are invited to perform Enburi at various stores and can be seen all over town during the festival. The Tourist Association has also created a separate event program and arranged a public stage. The highlight of this program is the “Garden Enburi” which takes place in the courtyard of Kōjōkaku, a mansion of a former financial clique family in Hachinohe that is now registered as tangible cultural property, located in the center of Hachinohe. You can watch the evening Enburi while sipping on sweet half sake and rice cracker soup in a tatami room. Reserved seats are sold at the convenience store Lawson from one month in advance, so if you want to watch the show, you should definitely reserve a seat in the first row. The competition for the first row seats is fierce. If you’re in the first row luckily, you can set up a video tripod. Heat packs are distributed to all audience and there is a bonfire, but in any case, you’ll be watching outside in the cold, so you’ll need to wear clothes to protect yourself from the extreme cold.
kojokaku (1)entrance
kojokaku (2)
kojokaku (5)
kojokaku (6)
garden enburi at kojokaku (1)
garden enburi at kojokaku (2)
garden enburi at kojokaku (3)
garden enburi at kojokaku (4)
garden enburi at kojokaku (5)
garden enburi at kojokaku (6)
garden enburi at kojokaku (7)
garden enburi at kojokaku (8)break
garden enburi at kojokaku (10)
garden enburi at kojokaku (12)
garden enburi at kojokaku (9)
The second recommendation is the “Brewery Storehouse Enburi” that Hachinohe Shuzo(Brewery) accepts only during this season as a set with a tour of the brewery. Online reservations are required, but there is less competition than for the Garden Enburi. Here, in a warm room, you can enjoy some excellent sake while watching the dancers perform right in front of you, almost touching them, making it the perfect opportunity to see their intricate movements. During this period, several tours are scheduled, so you can check out both Naka-enburi and Dosai-enburi. It seems that the brewers at this brewery are also participating in one of the groups. To get to Hachinohe Shuzo( Brewery), you’ll need to take the JR Hachinohe Line from Hachinohe Station to Mutsuminato Station, or take a bus from downtown Hachinohe, but it’s quite close.
enburi at brewery (4)
enburi at brewery (5)
enburi at brewery (6)
enburi at brewery (2)
enburi at brewery (3)
<Brewery storehouse Enburi(Dosai) by Hashikami-Toriyabe team>
Sake brewing is also at its peak at this time of year, so we recommend visiting the two major sake breweries: Hachinohe Shuzo, where you can enjoy the Brewery storehouse Enburi performance, and Hachinohe Shurui, located in the city center and with a modern shop building. Buying sake is a bulky process, but Hachinohe Shurui is surprisingly good at shipping sake with other manufacturers at a low price. I bought two 1.8L bottles at Hachinohe Shurui and had them delivered.
<Hachinohe Shuzo>
8000 brewery (1)entrance
8000 brewery (2)
8000 brewery (8)
8000 brewery (3)
8000 brewery (4)ridge tag
8000 brewery (5)account book in Meiji era
8000 brewery (10)
8000 brewery (11)
<Hachinohe Shurui>
8 tsuru brewery (1)shop
8 tsuru brewery (6)inside shop
8 tsuru brewery (5)
8 tsuru brewery (2)entrance
8 tsuru brewery (4)water
8 tsuru brewery (3)malt production room
Detour
Hachinohe Shuzo is located near JR Mutsuminato Station. It is close to the Tatehana Wharf where the huge and chaotic morning market is held, but of course the market is not open in the middle of winter (though it does have a special market during the New Year). However, in front of the station, there is a fish and vegetable market in a building that is open from morning until noon, and everything is very cheap. Sashimi(sliced raw fish) is also packaged in individual portions, so you can choose what you like, and if you order additional rice and miso soup at a table in the back, you can have a decent meal.
mutsu-minato (10)station monument
mutsu-minato (11)market
mutsu-minato (12)breakfast at market
Also nearby is Minato Shokudo(dining room), a popular restaurant on social media, where you can try their seasoned flounder rice bowl, although you may have to wait in line (in fact, if you write your name in a notebook at the reception desk, they will call you on your mobile phone when it is your turn). Apparently, in good seasons, you may have to wait 2-3 hours, but this was my fourth visit to Hachinohe and the first time I tried it, it was mid-winter, so I only had to wait an hour. Most people arrive on the JR Hachinohe Line and wait in line, and when you board the two-car train at Hachinohe Station, you have to get in directly behind the driver’s seat in the front car because Mutsuminato Station is an unmanned station and the driver of the one-man train also checks the tickets of passengers getting off from inside the train. I didn’t notice it at first, and assumed that all the doors would open if I pressed the button beside doors when I got to the station, but I was surprised when everyone moved to the front. Only one door in the front car opened because of the ticket gate. I later found out that all of these people were heading to Minato Shokudo! After getting off at the unmanned station, I made a furious dash and overtook about 10 people, but the enemy came in a group of several people, and one of the faster runners got in line first, and the person I had overtaken got in front of the line.
mutsu-minato (1)for Jaws station
mutsu-minato (2)queue
There was nothing to do during the hour-long wait, so I decided to take a walk to the free observation tower (Grette Tower Minato) on the cape beyond Tatehana Wharf and stared blankly at Hachinohe Port, which turned out to be quite enjoyable. To the east we could see Kabushima island, where black-tailed gulls had not yet arrived because it was not yet spring, and to the west we could see the majestic snow-capped Mount Hakkoda, and to the south we could see downtown Hachinohe and the forest of Chojayama Sinra Shrine, which is the venue for the polo matches at the summer Sansha Festival, as if they were right in front of us, and the hour passed by in the blink of an eye. Needless to say, the long-awaited seasoned flounder rice bowl was as delicious as SNS had said. For an additional 200 yen, you can have the miso soup turned into Hachinohe’s specialty rice cracker soup, but there’s no rice cracker soup with a more delicious broth than this one, so be sure to order it. After that, we once again made a mad dash to Brewery storehouse Enburi, for which we had a reservation starting at 2 p.m.
mutsu-minato (4)
mutsu-minato (5)harber
mutsu-minato (3)kabushima island
mutsu-minato (6)hakkoda mountains
mutsu-minato (8)cafeteria
mutsu-minato (7)cafeteria
mutsu-minato (9)cafeteria
mutsu-minato (10)cafeteria
Go back to itinerary(Hachinohe where you can enjoy the four seasons)Go back to itinerary(Colorful and spiritual Festival in each region)
When you look at the Tanabata decorations in the shopping district, they all look the same(sorry), but when you learn that each shop displays their own decorations in front of each shop, your perspective changes. The results of contest are indicated unobtrusively beside each decoration.
By the way, a famous person signed a streamer for Tanabata decorations, so it seems that there was an event to find it, but the person who found it would definitely tear it off, so I thought the game wouldn’t work.
tanabata8
tanabata5
tanabata6 gold
tanabata2
tanabata3
tanabata4
tanabata1
Recently, sparrow dances have been incorporated into festivals and contests have also been held. After all, decorations alone lack excitement, so it has changed to a participatory festival. By the way, the sparrow is also the family crest of the Date family of the Sendai clan.
An important tool in Hanagasa Dance is a hat decorated with flowers. The flower is safflower, and it was very valuable in the Edo period as a raw material for dyes and lipsticks. ”Beautiful flowers have thorns.” It was said that the hands of the young women who hand-picked them were dyed red with thorns. Please refer to safflower stories in Yamagata at the botton below.
Go to safflower stories
Go back to the festival, many teams that make up the parade show off their unique dances from in traditional and elegant style to in brave and dynamic style. Television news programs often show dances in an elegant style, but in contrast to folk music, the force of moving the hanagasa hats violently in dynamic style cannot be conveyed unless you come to the site. My impression was that elegant dance and dynamic dance in the parade were half and half. Original dances were occasionally seen. Each team consists of communities, schools, and workplaces, and each of them appeals their own characteristics in their dance.
yamagata5 miss Yamagata
yamagata1
yamagata2
yamagata4
yamagata3 soba
It is held on the long main street at night. So, no need to keep a viewing spot in advance. Please enjoy Yamagata soba in between viewings. Yamagata Prefecture ranks first in the consumption ranking of soba. Please refer to soba stories in Yamagata at the botton below.
Go to white flower of buckwheat and soba storiesGo back to itinerary(Coloful ad spiritual Festival in each region)Go back to itinerary(Yamagata in Summer)
Akita is a rice-produching region. Kanto lanterns shining in the night sky represent a bountiful harvest of rice in coming Autumn and praying for an end of epidemics like that Gion Festival in Kyoto prays. It is interesting that many festivals both in Japan and abroad, now and in the past, are held to pray for the warding off of epidemics.
akita kanto1 ready
akita kanto8 music
akita kanto4
akita kanto3 pose
akita kanto2
The kanto hand over the pillars to the next person while adding a piece of pillars, showing an exquisitely balanced pose each time. The completed kanto reaches 12 meters high and weighs 50 kilograms, and the pillars are largely bent. “The boughs that bear most hang lowest.” This really embodies the proverb.
akita kanto7 a child who take out something decoration when the pose is decided
If you want to see Kanto at night, you should reserve a seat in the front row of the median on the main street. It is so powerful that the lanterns collapsing in front of you.
Discover a genius boy mixed with adults! As soon as he strikes an exquisitely balanced pose, he pulls out various projectiles such as fans from his chest and enjoys everyone around him.
During the daytime, the festival holds competition to compete in techniques to support the Kanto in various positions(one hand, forehead, sholder, waist !). Even at night, you should look down, not up.
akita competition2 judge
akita competition9 next players waiting
akita competition3 penalty if the foot is out of circle
akita competition4 experts only move their heels
akita competition6
akita competition7 change position each 30sec
akita competition5
akita competition10
akita competition8 change music also each 30sec
akita competition11 curve max
akita competition12 at least break
Let me briefly explain the rules. use only one hand. Do not go beyond the 6m diameter circle. Change technique according to the signal (every 30 seconds). If playing an instrument, change the tune. In my opinion, good athletes keep their balance by slightly shifting their heels. If you can’t afford to stay overnight in Akita, I recommend you watching the daytime competition.
Lotus flower (Junsai is one of familly) around Akita Castle
Detour
Make sure you have something to eat in advance for a long enjoying. There is a market near the station where you can eat rock oysters from the Oga Peninsula. You can also choose Akita’s famous sake from the list pasted on all over the wall. The fact that “junsai” can be eaten with sake is proof that the water is delicious. “Inaniwa udon” (Japanese noodles), which is eaten in the middle of summer, cools down to the core and releases the summer heat.
Stages with dolls in gorgeous costumes protrude in all directions(10m height, 8m width) from the decorated floats, and ancient stories unfold on it. A long time ago, inspired by the movie “Truck Guy”, trucks decorated with lights transported supplies throughout Japan late at night. It seems to have originated in Hachinohe. If you are fun to watch NHK new year’s eve red-and-white singing contest program, the mechanism could remind you of the famous singer, Sachiko Kobayashi. Anyway, you are overwhelmed by its gorgeousness.
hacchi parade1 treasure boat
hacchi parade2 carp on the waterfall
hacchi parade6 1
hacchi parade4
hacchi parade3 Yang Guifei (the Best)
hacchi parade6 2
hacchi parade6 3
hacchi parade6 dojouji
hacchi parade8
hacchi parade7
hacchi parade11 demon extermination
hacchi parade9
hacchi parade10
hacchi parade12
hacchi parade13
hacchi parade14 Taro Urashima and princess
hacchi parade15 1
hacchi parade15 umihiko and yamahiko
hacchi parade16 happy new year
Packed decration float during the day on the road
I passed by the folded float during the day, and was impressed by how compact it was folded.
hacchi preparade1 packed decoration
hacchi preparade2
hacchi preparade3
hacchi preparade4
hacchi preparade5
Cavalry battle similar to polo in Chojasan-Shinra-Shrine
Yabusame can be seen anywhere in Japan, but cavalry battles can only be seen here. A horse divided into red and white throws its own ball into the goal while disturbing the opponent’s ball insertion. It’s hard to reach the goal even if there are no obstacles. Prizes are given to the winners by the descendants of the Nanbu clan lords.
hacchi cavalry7 disturb the opponent
hacchi cavalry1
hacchi cavalry2 concentrate his own color ball
hacchi cavalry3 goal
hacchi cavalry4
hacchi cavalry5
hacchi cavalry6
hacchi cavalry8
hacchi cavalry9
hacchi cavalry10
hacchi cavalry11
hacchi cavalry12
hacchi cavalry13
hacchi cavalry14 prize
hacchi cavalry15 tired…..tired…..tired…..
The Best Detour
The northern Tohoku region was a large living area during the Jomon period (the era when people changed from hunting to sedentary life). Gassho, meaning to join hands, clay figurine was excavated in Hachinohe. This is the only clay figurine with the spiritual meaning of gassho.
hacchi clay figurine2 national treasure
hacchi clay figurine3 national teue mark
hacchi clay figurine1
Goats are cleaners around the museum
Dinner of mackerel dishes and market for breakfast
hacchi mackerel dishes1
hacchi mackerel dishes2
hacchi mackerel dishes3
hacchi mackerel dishes4
hacchi hauchi
hacchi stall
hacchi market1 sun rise
hacchi market2 st.Mutsuminato
hacchi market3 300yen breakfast
hacchi market4
hacchi market5 lunch box on express
Go back to itinerary(Colorful and spiritual Festival in each region)Go back to itinerary(Hachinohe where you can enjoy the four seasons)
It takes place on 2nd Saturday of June. Iwate, especially the north of it, named ‘Nambu’ has been a horse production ares. A pair of sculpture in front of shrines as a guardian ae sometimes changed from dogs normally to horces. Humen and horses live together under the same roof in the countryside. Humen pray their health and safe and the road of pray had became the parade from countryside(Takizawa village) to Morioka city of more than 100 horses dressing up which are nurtured with care in each house.
chaguchagu4 rest
*)It takes almost half day on foot(14km) when you follow the parade, so it is a good idea to stay ahead of the curve using trains(st.Aoyama,etc). The parade takes breaks on the way several times and then nursing baby horses get milk from their mothers.
chaguchagu6 morioka city
At last, poud parade groups marches through Morioka city and Sansa Dancing welcomes them early in advance the festival season without controling their impulse.
During craft balloon festival people return from urban to reunite with family. Their wishes drawn on the balloons by themselves will come true with craft balloon lift-up. People including tourists participated releasing balloons. It was a fantastic moment !
craft balloon releasing
Many balloons stay in the night sky and eventually disappear into the mountains.
What will happen to the balloon blown away at last ? “Maybe falling in the deep mountains”, local people said.
*) Caution
It was too cold not to stay venue long time.
balloons stay in the sky
Go back to itinerary(Akita in Winter)Go back to itinerary(Clorful and spiritual Festival in each region)
‘Snow house’ named as ‘KAMAKURA’ in Japanese is a famous play spot among children. They enjoy eating something and playing games in the house. The water God is enshrined inside for wishing coming Spring to bring a lot of water to fields.
Even if not during festival period, we enjoyed a permanent ‘snow house’ in a huge refrigerator. Children inside surround fireplace and look warm, but never warm rather cold !
Just then, people were constructing snow houses here and there in YOKOTE city. First making a snow circle mountain by hand, next making a side hole.
