Golden Week pt 1: Festival

After having lived in Japan for over two years now, I can safely say that a lot of cool and weird stuff has happened to me; the things I've witnessed, the conversations I've had, the people I've encountered... Perhaps the experience that tops it all happened just 2 weeks ago, during my Golden Week holiday.

So basically, my good mate Kym and I decided to spend the week somewhere different - on the quiet Island of Sado. But before we even reached the island, purely by chance, we happened upon a local festival - not dissimilar to the one I described in my previous blog post.

50 or so guys were parading down a street just off the main one. About 20 of them were carrying a mikoshi, one was sporting a traditional lion's head mask, and another a demon mask. Kym and I got a bit closer to take some photos, when suddenly everyone started charging at us, led by the lion; it was like this unstoppable wave of people rushing towards us. The next thing I know, I've been swept up in it; suddenly I'm wearing someone's festival robe and helping the group carry the mikoshi down the street. The whole time everyone was cheering me on.

Everyone was so enthusiastic about the two foreigners who'd come to see their local festival, and really wanted us to share the experience with them. For a moment there I thought they were going to ditch the mikoshi and start carrying me around.

Shortly after, the mikoshi stopped outside a nursing home and we got a chance to talk to our companions. Simple communication is a challenge for me in this country, but with a rush of pride I realised that I could communicate with these people, and we stood there chatting in Japanese until it was time for the mikoshi to get moving again. Being able to talk to the individuals who'd been cheering me on made the experience all the more personal.

Finally, against a final uproar of cheering, we said our thank yous and our goodbyes, and then it was off to the island!