Summer time in Japan means its time for matsuri or festival in English. Today at the spur of the moment, my wife and I drove just south of Kiminomori to Mobara where they were having their Tanabata matsuri. Tanabata meaning “evening of the seventh” is the Japanese star festival and originates from China.
At Tanabata people write wishes on pieces of paper and place them or hang them inside bamboo. The bamboo is then set afloat down a river or burned. This is probably one of the most popular annual community events in Mobara and during the last 3 days, a wide array of stalls and parades dominate much of the city’s central shopping district. While the rest of Japan usually celebrates Tanabata on July 7, the Mobara version of the festival is held in late July so as to coincide with school holidays. Most of the ones dressed up for the festivals were indeed the younger generation.
At any Matsuri you’ll find lots of families and kids enjoying the festivities. This is the big draw of any festival. The food is expensive, its hot and crowded but everyone comes out anyway.
It was difficult at some points of the festival to even walk so I only used my camera when there were less people around so I wouldn’t bump others or be bumped with the camera. We arrived a bit late so all the dancing festivities were over (the dance troupes were already sitting below waiting for festival competition results) and we also didn’t stay late for the sending off of the bamboo downstream. Pretty much just to check it out for the first time. I hope to head out next year when the festivities are actually going on so I can catch them in action.
wah!!..what a pictures, what camera are you using?..nice framing and exposure control.