I went to two days of the famous Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri last month, and then to two local ones (Kumatori and Tajiri) this past weekend. I think the Danjiri (refers to the carriage that people move/pull around town) Matsuri (meaning festival) is a great activity to not only hold a community/town together, but make people closer to each other in the same town.
Danjiri participants start practicing for the festival two months before the event by running and shouting out slogans. The musicians (taiko and wind instruments) practice their instruments. Everyone, young (as in 3 years old) and old (in their 70s), male and female participate in this event. Although it seems that people in their 20s and 30s compose the majority of the participants. They run as hard as they could as sweats dripped down the sides of their faces. Their faces turn red after putting a lot of force into controlling and moving the danjiri.
The actual event takes place over two days- one day when they carry the danjiri to the local shrine, and one day when they parade around town. At the Kishiwada one, I only saw the parade over two days. But I saw the shrine version from both local ones.
Kid participants are especially cute in the habi (the special clothes they wear) and the shoes. Girls have great hairstyles.
I wish we had something like this at home.
