Starting in Chichibu...
I arrived @ Narita airport yesterday (or the day before; that whole International Date Line thing is a little confusing) and was up 29 hours before collapsing onto the futon on Cayce's floor last night. But oh so worth it.
Delayed by de-icing at JFK, duped by a sleeping pill (I got a mere 2 hour nap w/a dose of Sonata!), thwarted in my attempt to find a luggage locker for my suitcase, Cayce and I drank copious amounts of sake on the train from Narita to Tokyo, then north to Chichibu, where last night was the grand finale of their annual fireworks festival.
It was my first temple festival and I finally got to witness the infamous parades of men shuffling through the streets w/their heavy (heavy!) floats, chanting wa-shoi as they stumbled in unison. At a parking lot percussion concert we shared roasted chestnuts with some friendly faces. (Those huge taiko drums pierce through to your core.) There were very few visible foreigners at the festival, so we attracted more than the usual share of stares and offers of food.
After 4 hours of blessed sleep, we leave this morning for Yamagata and toji at the Hijiori Onsen. I'll continue to write, but it may be 8-10 days before I can post again. Sayonara
2 Comments:
I wondered if the weather here in NYC had slowed your departure. Never mind--your post brought back memories of a taiko drum demonstration I got to witness when I was on tour in Japan. I look forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!
Leda
I love amazake! I've only had it bottled, from the health-food store. Would love to try it fresh. One of my college roommates was a long-time member of Soh Daiko... look for them when you need another taiko-drumming, full-body appreciation (http://www.sohdaiko.org/ - only a few sound clips)
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