Nezu Matsuri

21/9, Sunday

I hadn't planned on doing anything in particular today except studying and preparing for the first "real" class that was going to start on Monday, but when we got invited to go to the Nezu Matsuri (Nezu Festival) I just couldn't say no! A and I had wanted to go see the cosplayers at Harajuku, but that will have to wait until some other Sunday. See, exciting things or things just out of the ordinary usually take place on a Sunday in Japan, because that's the day when most people are free from work and school. In Akihabara, for example, I've heard that they close down the main street on Sundays to let people walk freely on the roads.

On our way to the festival area. In the background, you can see a couple of shrine-carriers carrying the top part of a mikoshi (portable shrine).

So! Nezu Matsuri! It wasn't far from school (nothing in Tokyo feels far away though...) and the whole experience was very refreshing and interesting despite the rain. At times it was just a drizzle, but there were also times when it came pouring down as if there was no tomorrow. Oh, and before I forget, I mentioned the earthquake in yesterday's post. It was just a small one (in the Tokyo periphery anyway) and occured in the middle of the night. I woke up feeling everything shaking from side to side. It's quite difficult to describe the feeling, but I never felt afraid, I was just like "oh, an earthquake!". I'm happy though that it wasn't a major one. Anyway, nothing to worry about!

The festival gate. Err, you actually only see the top part of the gate!

We got to Nezu at about 1400 with one of the volunteers, Atsuko-san (really nice and friendly!), and the mikoshi parade was supposed to start at 1430, but it got postponed due to the heavy rainfall. So we walked around the area and tried to feel the atmosphere. It wasn't very crowded, probably due to the weather, unfortunately...

There were lots of food and candy stands all over the area (which houses a temple as well). We also saw stands where you try to scoop a goldfish into a bowl. You've seen that so many times in anime and manga, so it was nice to see how it worked out in real life, and it doesn't differ much.

The temple/festival area is actually located in a pretty foresty area, so mud and dirt got kicked up everywhere. Which is why my shoes have brown spots on them now. T_T Oh well, I can probably chuck them into the washing machine sometime. But hey, let's move on to the pictures instead.
Let's have some explanatory text to go along with the pictures! (From left to right):
1. A small stand with plastic figures in water going round and round. Very colorful and cute, but who wants wet toys? Kids probably like these kind of things though!
2. One of the many food stalls. This one is selling Toppoki, whatever that might be. Seems to be a Korean dish. I don't remember it very well, but I seem to be seeing sausages swimming in a reddish sauce in my mind. @_@ It looked pretty good.
3. Small green bridge which takes you to the inner area of the temple. You can almost feel the rain in this picture.
4. This one was one of the play-stalls. You pay a certain amount of yen and you get this toy-gun to shoot down the prices rotating on the stand in the background.
5. A hidden area behind the many stalls. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.
6. Boy at the toy-gun stand. He was really into it! I don't know if he won anything though, I hope he did!
7. Two food stalls in front of an eating area. The one to the right is selling yakisoba, fried noodles.
8. This is a performance area I think. Later, there would be musicians sitting there playing on Japanese traditional instruments. I have a video of it, so I might upload it when I have more time!
1. Boy in yellow raincoat with a blue umbrella. He really stood out so it was a shame that the picture got all blurry and fuzzy.
2. More stands. More people. More umbrellas.
3. Just outside the main entrance. We heard that the mikoshi was coming soon, so we went standby by the entrance to check things out. This slope caught my eye so I took a picture of fit. The curves look nice.
4. What I had for lunch! Hiroshima-okonomiyaki. Hm. It was alright. Not really my thing. Lots of salad inside. XD
5. The slope is getting filled with people waiting for the mikoshi.
6. And here it comes! It's actually the second or third mikoshi. There were more fancier ones, but I'm saving those for the video! During these festivities, when people carry mikoshi, they shout "wasshoi" in unison. I don't think it means anything, it's just something you say for circumstances like these.
7. One of the mikoshi-carriers with a picture of a deceased person. You don't really see it in this picture, but everyone was smiling and jumping, including the man holding the picture. So I suppose it's not something to be sad about! Oh, and see the police officer? They're everywhere in Tokyo, ready to help people anytime.

The mikoshi-carrying continued outside to the street, where there was this truck which people sat inside and played instruments in. So it kept going back and forth. By this time it had gotten quite crowded. And very, very rainy. The streets were practically flooded with water! You could make a pretty big splash if you kicked the road.

All in all, it was very cool to be able to experience a traditional Japanese matsuri. It finally felt like we were doing something that everyone else in Japan also do, and it was great to be a part of it. In the end, we had to wait around a long time for the mikoshi, but it was well worth it. I thought I wouldn't be able to go to any festivals while staying in Japan because the matsuri season ends with the summer. We're lucky we caught this one! To round the matsuri-chapter off, I'm posting this picture:

Look at the blue sign! It's an alien-man kidnapping a little girl! But she looks kinda slug-ish too, so maybe it's an alien dad and an alien daughter going to school together.

After this, S, O, A, the Finnish students, me, Kouji-san and Atsuko-san went back to Ichigaya to grab something to eat. We went to this place called Mos Burger, which is a hamburger chain in Japan. Don't expect any McDonald's though, the Mos we went to was very clean (oh, yeah, I'm in Japan) and actually not busy at all. Also, you don't get teriyaki filling in a McD's, but you do in Mos! That's what I had, a teriyaki burger. Yummy!

The ice tea, on the other hand...

And then we went home and I prepared for the first lesson and didn't go to sleep at until 0200. I had to get up at 0720 too. >_<>

Ready-made sushi bought at a convenience store. Hm, not that bad. But then again I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to sushi.

So anyway, I had my first real class today and it went fine because I prepared well the night before! I think I enjoy studying. More about that when I wake up later today. It's like 0315 but that's alright because I don't have any class tomorrow! I'm one day behind with my blogging but that will be taken care of as well. More studying and blogging awaits!