Sunday I woke up with a minor hangover and had a pretty slow morning until I went into Kobe to meet up with Kuniko after work. She and I were going to the Danjiri Matsuri in Southern Osaka. It is maybe the most famous matsuri in Japan, and one of Kuniko’s coworkers had invited us to meet up there and watch it together.
Pictures from the day here.
It turned out that the coworker was the same teacher that had gone with Kuniko to New Zealand on the school trip earlier this year. His wife was originally from the town where the matsuri is held, and her parents still live there.
Kuniko and I were both pretty tired out from the previous evening’s exertions, so the plan was to keep it short and sweet – take some pictures, eat some fair food, and then catch an early train back. But, that was not to be.
I met Kuniko at 2 p.m. in Kobe, and it took about 90 minutes to get to the town where the matsuri was being held. Then we met up with the teacher, Nakatani sensei, and he showed us around the town. The town was filled with people, and everywhere you looked there were stands, shops and happi-wearing festival-goers enjoying the event. The streets of the town were closed so that the mikoshi (portable shrines) could travel around the area.
The mikoshi were really cool. They were these huge ornate heavy things on wheels that were pulled by hundreds (!) of people with ropes. People also pushed from behind and rode on the sides. On the front of the mikoshi stood some city elders in special costumes, and on top there was one or two guys that tried to surf the thing while the teams made high speed turns through the city. It was pretty amazing to watch.
We walked through the city chasing mikoshi around, taking lots of pictures, and soaking in the festival. It turned out that Nakatani sensei had prepared dinner for us, so we went back to his wife’s parent’s house after a couple hours of walking around. The house was a big modern building from the outside but inside was decorated in traditional Japanese style. We came in and met his family, and everybody was very friendly and polite. They really did too much for us, and this brings me to the social commentary portion of my post.
Everybody thinks of Japanese people as very polite, and for the most part that reputation is well deserved. That politeness is a way to make the guest or new person feel special, but it also marks out some distance between yourself and the host. The host is putting you so high up on a pedestal that you may have trouble interacting with them comfortably. Usually I hang out with people that don’t sweat this too much, and are more casual about things. Nakatani sensei’s family was a real throwback to the old fashioned style, and it took me by surprise.
They had a huge dinner prepared for us, including crab, sushi, sashimi, rice, soup, yakitori, and bite sized pieces of food that served as appetizers. Nakatani sensei’s wife worked hard to take all the crab meat out of the shells for each one of us – we didn’t even have to do that. There was way too much food for the four of us, and we ate in a decorative room that was beautiful.
In contrast, the rest of the family (the grandparents, the kids, some neighbors) ate in the adjoining kitchen. They made some noise and it sounded like they were having a great time. Occasionally one or two of them would come in to introduce themselves, and then they’d go back and enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, we had quiet conversation amongst ourselves while Nakatani sensei poured us beer and urged us to eat more.
We took a break at one point to go outside because one of the local mikoshi (there were 34 in all) was passing through the immediate neighborhood. We watched it go by, and then came back in and finished up. It was a long dinner but we really enjoyed talking with them, and Nakatani sensei’s wife was really friendly and fun to chat with.
From there we packed up our gear (they had given us lots of omiyage) and then headed out the door with Nakatani sensei to return to the station. His mother-in-law and father-in-law came out to thank us for coming, and the mother-in-law got down on her hands and knees and bowed on the floor which has only happened to me at a few select Japanese-style inns where we’ve stayed. I was a little embarrassed, but that was their custom, I guess. Interesting.
By this time it was dark, and Nakatani sensei took us by a few mikoshi to show us the lanterns they had attached to them. In the evening they slowly march them around with a huge array of lanterns on board. The members of the town walked with the mikoshi, and I got a laugh out of the support team that was pushing a couple of grocery carts that were filled with cans of beer and chu-hai to keep everyone buzzing. One of the guys saw my reaction to the grocery cart and stopped to give us a couple of cans. Thanks, man.
We caught the train back and didn’t get home until late, and we were exhausted. They really put out the welcome wagon for us, and it felt like somehow we need to do something more for them – we’re going to get them a bottle of champagne or something later this week.
Awesome festival, and we’re hoping to do it again next year. For now it’s back to work on Monday. It’s a national holiday, but I do have three classes to teach. Kuniko has the day off and I think she’ll go to a seminar with Nozaki sensei.
