Ever since I have been to Japan, I always find chances to go to various festivals or community events in neighborhoods, shrines and temples. I was impressed the most by the Danjiri matsuri in Kishiwada, Osaka, which was the first community festival in Japan I had been to. It took about one and a half hour to get to Kishiwada from Hirakata-shi by transferring from one train to another for at least twice. By the time I arrived at Kishiwada station, I could barely walk pass the exit since there was already a big crowd right in front of the station. The Danjiri matsuri is famous for the portable shrine carrying competition among local groups and the way in which those group members carry their portable shrines, especially when they need to move the portable shrine heading to a different direction. When I saw how passionate the mikoshi carrying groups were, I was surprised since I could not imagine how the usually quiet and rigid Japanese can be such loud and excited. Especially for those who may work as salary men in their regular daily lives who turn into those passionate mikoshi carriers for only once or twice a year. They take off their suits and wear those traditional clothing for festival. No matter what they did to earn a living in daily life, they shout out loudly with their faces turned red by excitement without any restrains.
I was very impressed by how energetic and different these Japanese people were in comparison with those I encountered in the train. And they gave me the chance to realize how loud Japanese people can get when they are willing to do so. In such a country like Japan in which people are constantly living in a rigid frame with all kinds of traditional values in mind, various festivals maybe an outlet through which these Japanese people can temporarily be loud, be different from how they are usually like without breaking any social norms since these festivals themselves are a significant part of Japanese culture. Even though Danjiri matsuri is also famous for the beautiful and detailed decorations of the portable shrine, visitors of the festivals in general all seemed to be attracted by the passionate carriers rather than the pretty portable shrines.
When I happened to see that one of the portable shrine was broken down for the moment, and all carriers in that community group were trying their best to fix it so that they could get back to the competition as soon as possible. When the carriers seemed to be frustrated by the problem with the wheels, the kids and other members in the same local group surrounded the whole portable shrine trying to see what indeed happened, while some of them sat down for tea and snack. This festival was apparently a community event in which most of the local residents participate except the seniors who may not have the energy to keep up with group. The portable shrine carrying group was basically a team with male teenagers in the very beginning followed by kids and girls, and then in the middle of the team were the portable shrine and its carriers who were -mostly young or middle-aged men with women or other group member at the back waving the huge round fan at the back of the team. The loudest person in the team maybe the male member who stood on the top of the portable shrine who was shouting out words to inspire the team from time to time to make the competition more intense and exciting.
The Futontaiko matsuri in Hirakata was also an impressive one which was held in a manner similar to that of the Danjiri matsuri. But the emphasize of the Futontaiko matsuri is the portable shrine decorated by futon with kids performing taiko who sit inside the mikoshi. Even though the Futontaiki matsuri was also one in which community members of all ages participated, unlike the Danjiri matsuri, the kids here in the mikoshi carrying teams were at the back of the team carrying a smaller mikoshi themselves and followed the big mikoshi. With the music of taiko, the Futontaiko matsuri seemed to be more or less louder than the Danjiri matsuri, while they were both very loud.
I was very impressed to see how Japanese people work hard together as community members and how loud and passionate these people let themselves be. Personally, these festivals allowed me to see an significant part of the Japan culture and a colorful aspect of the Japanese way of life. All that I witnessed in various festivals and local events gradually changed my initial impressions of Japan and Japanese based on what I learn from academic articles or textbooks with more different dimensions and vivid scenes are added to my experiences with Japan the land and Japanese the people.
Official website of the Danjiri matsuri
other websites
Video of the Hirakata Futontaiko Matsuri
