Mozu Hachiman Futon-Daiko Festival

Today's post is about a fairly large festival that takes place each year in the town of Sakai, which is about 45 minutes south of Osaka. I have to be honest that I was pretty confused and it took a bunch of time to research (in Japanese) what I had seen so that I could understand it. It makes me VERY happy that I can now do (basic) google searches using Japanese characters and language!

First off, like one of the other festivals I attended here in Osaka, this one had a full carnival-style atmosphere including all the required food and entertainment booths. I think the most popular booth type were the ones selling cucumbers on a stick. I guess it has a low barrier to entry since all you need is a bag of cucumbers and some sticks. A couple of the Japanese websites that I came across were making fun of them too. They also had some kids' booths with this festival's twist on the scoop-up-the-fish-with-a-paper-net game involving small crabs instead of gold fish:

The crabs didn't have dangerous claws and the kids really seemed to like scooping them up. At another booth they had very small turtles. I'm not sure what was going on but it didn't seem to be the scoop-up-fish game that the other booths had. Regardless, it was pretty fun to watch the cute little turtles swim around:


Okay, let me see if I can explain this one. The festival is called the Mozu Hachiman Futon-Daiko Festival. Mozu is the area where the shrine is located. It's a relatively famous area due to the Kofun that are nearby. Hachiman is the name of the shrine where the festival takes place. You may already know that a futon is a type of bed that is widely used in Japan. It's basically like a stuffed sleeping bag and I find them super comfortable. The funny thing is that people hang them outside during the day to air out so you'll see them on balconies all over Japan. Finally, a Daiko is a type of drum. So, in summary, the festival is the Mozu (neighborhood) Hachiman (shrine) Futon (bed) Daiko (drum) Festival.

In the photo below, you can see one of the "floats" that are used in the festival. The red basket-looking thing is actually five futons piled on top of each other. They are then heavily decorated with various tassels, ropes, and other things. A couple of people ride on top of the futons during the festival. Under the futons is the section that holds the drum and drummers. The bottom is made up of the wood frame and bamboo handles that are used to carry the float.

This is a close up of center section of the float. You can see the intricate wood carvings as well as the chanter-drummer boys who ride inside the float. These costumed boys are in the sixth grade and they are responsible for leading the chanting and keeping the rhythm by beating the large drum, which you can't see, in the center.

There are many different groups that make floats and come to the festival. The groups carry their floats from the surrounding neighborhood into the shrine area. Here's one group entering the shrine grounds:

The festival is basically a fall harvest celebration where the groups are praying for a good harvest. The floats are portable shrines, which are about 12 feet tall (4 meters) and weigh about two-and-a-half tons. They are carried by a team of approximately 60-to-70 people.

Here you can see half of the team that is carrying this float. You can't really tell from the photo but these guys ARE working! Each person needs to carry over 100 pounds (50kg) back and forth through the shine grounds.


The physical activity of carrying the floats is meant to simulate a boat riding in rough waters. The people who are carrying the float make the float go up and down as a boat would do in rough water while participating in a call-and-response style of chanting. In this photo the float is at the other end of the shrine grounds and is headed back towards where I'm standing.


Since photos and my description can only do so much, here's a short video that I shot using my point-and-shoot:

Going to this festival was one of the more interesting that I've been to in Japan. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else that I've been. It makes me wonder just how many different local festivals there are in the world and how I can get to see them one day...

Thanks to: Loneleeplanet.com

www.loneleeplanet.com Japan-Blog Matsuri (February 2011)

and: The Japan Blog Matsuri

http://faq.japansoc.com/japan-blog-matsuri

Gunkanjima - Japan's Battleship Island

Not too far off the coast from the Nagasaki harbor is an island called Hashima. This tiny island-turned-coal-mine is also known as Gunkanjima, which means Battleship (gunkan) Island (jima) in English. It takes about 30 minutes via tour boat to reach the island. In this photo, which was taken from the back of boat, is the Nagasaki harbor mouth (where the bridge is) as well as a massive Mitsubishi ship yard (where the red and white crane is):

On the way to Gunkanjima the boat passed by this bridge that's under construction. It was a cool site to see both sides of the bridge looking completed but with no center section:

It wasn't until we were past the bridge that we could see the center section being held by this floating crane (very cool!):

Gunkanjima opened in 1887 and was operated by Mitsubishi as a coal mine from 1890 to 1974. The miners used a shaft that went from the center of the island down below the sea floor. Coal was sent out to waiting ships via conveyor belt. Approaching and pulling up to the island is quite impressive. It's a very small island but there are a ton of large buildings on it. From the sea it looks like almost every square inch of the island is covered:

It's only when you get onto the island that you can see what only 35 years of neglect looks like in an urban environment. All of the buildings are in some sort of decay with many actually falling down. The tour groups are only allowed to visit a well-roped-off, very small part of the island. In this photo you can see the remains of many different buildings:

One of the staggering things about the island was the super-high-density population that lived there during its heyday. At one point, the island supported a population equivalent of over 216,000 people per square mile. Compare that to current-day New York City, which is approximately 27,000 people per square mile.

Even though the miners and their families that lived here existed in a such a dense place, their lives were relatively well off. Since the island was a private venture, the company took care of the employees including providing for their needs during the war and after. It seems to have been a pretty good place to live.

To help support the high density, new construction methods were used on the island. I believe that this was the first large concrete structure built in Japan; a nine-story apartment building, which was built in 1916:

On the approach you could see how people can say the island looks like a battleship. It isn't until you leave the island and the boat goes to the other side that you can really see it for yourself. It really does look like one. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gunkanjima, the battleship island of Nagasaki, Japan:

Buying Coffee In The Land Of Tea

Editorial Note: Since I started whereisdarrennow my focus has been on recording what I've learned along the way. I knew that, if I didn't force myself to sit down and think about what I've seen, I'd forget many of the details. In this way, lots of the stories have tended to be "explanations" and "take aways" of what I've seen and/or the experiences I had. I've received feedback that people are enjoying the stories but that they also want to read more about my "daily life" experiences. To me, these things haven't really been "worthy" of sharing but, in response, I'll start posting more stories like this. So, here's another story in the "daily life" category. Enjoy!

About a block from where I'm living there's a small coffee-roasting shop that I've been buying my coffee from. It's a mom-and-pop-style business that's owned by a guy who looks like he's in his late 40s or early 50s. A couple of times that I've gone in an older couple who are probably the owner's parents are manning the shop. Of course it's possible that it's their shop and the son is working for them but I'm not sure because they don't speak English and I still can't handle that level of conversation in Japanese.

The shop buys green coffee and roasts it in super-small batches on their roasting machine. I love the smell when I walk by the shop each day. You can see their roaster and the burlap sacks of green coffee:

At any given time, they have about six or eight coffee varieties. I've tried a bunch so far and my favorite has been the Brazilian medium roast. The shop also sells creamers, sugar, cocoa, and other stuff that goes with the coffee.

I've been impressed by their concern for quality and the artisan approach they take when they roast the coffee. The coffee is great and, to think, it's in the land where tea is still king. Anyway, just another post under "scenes from my daily life". Now for a fresh pot of coffee!