Festival Hopping - Pt. III

七尾イッサキ祭り - June 2nd

Last weekend I went to a town an hour away to see their Kiriko festival. Their's is well known for being awesome because the teams are so powerful and well organized. The kiriko they carry are bigger than ours so their teams are a little bigger but they perform in such impressive synchronization so it's fun even to just watch it. However, at Isaki only men are allowed to be on the teams or to even touch the kiriko at all. Even the children riding the kiriko supposedly can only be boys, so they always dress in yukata and wear wigs and wear bright fake jewelry and even makeup. However, on one of the kiriko's we noticed there were two girls! This is very unusual so we were perplexed to see it. Now I love festivals, and I really love participating in them- carrying the kiriko, chanting, and so on. So while I am totally against the no-girls-allowed-rule, I still appreciate the power and teamwork of the macho kiriko teams. 

The kiriko lined up and ready to go at 8 p.m.!

The team straining under the weight of their huge kiriko

As the kiriko approached the crowds the police yelled at the audience to stay back to avoid the swaying kiriko

宇出津ボンおどり - August 3rd

My town had a little Bon Odori celebration where people dressed in yukata and danced around a stage. First all the children from the nursery school did a dance with their mothers, then a couple different women's groups also danced. They even had a little fireworks display to cap off the evening!

珠洲ほうりょう七夕祭り - August 7th

Last Thursday I invited a couple of my co-workers to go to Suzu, the next town up north, to see their famous Tanabata kiriko festival. This festival really was awesome and I am so glad we went to see it! It is famous because the men on the kiriko teams carry the tall kirikos waist deep into the sea and line up between huge torches, and then fireworks are shot behind them! In fact, many of the fireworks are shot off sideways so that they burst literally right behind the line of kirikos. It was incredibly beautiful.